Full Metal Jacket it definitely is not. Nor does it intend to be. Biloxi Blues, a 1988 film directed by Mike Nichols and starring Matthew Broderick and Christopher Walken, is a meringue of light laughs. It doesn't offer profound insights into military life, but it does allow us to laugh at it.
The film, the second of an autobiographical trilogy by Neil Simon, chronicles a group of young men enduring Army basic training during World War II. Their drill sergeant, Sgt. Toomey, played by Walken, engages an intersection between eccentricity and madness. Broderick plays private Eugene Jerome, a smart ass from New York. His fellow trainees include the whiny but weirdly courageous Private Epstein (Corey Parker), Private Wykowski (Matt Mulhern), Private Selridge (Markus Flanagan), Private Hennessey (Michael Dolan), and Private Carney (Casey Siemaszko), all of whom have the usual foibles. Absolutely no surprises here.
Many reviewers have criticized this film because it didn't provide anything new. And it doesn't. But I enjoyed this film for what it was, an entertaining lark. The performances were credible and breezy. Not every film dealing with the military has to be emotionally searing like The Deer Hunter or Platoon. Sometimes we dine at four star restaurants and sometimes we dine at Denny's. Sometimes we watch a movie in which a marine private shoots his drill sergeant to death, and then himself, as in Full Metal Jacket, and sometimes we watch a movie that has an army private ordering his drill sergeant to do 200 push ups, which is the case in Biloxi Blues.
I laugh every time I watch Biloxi Blues, particularly at the scene in which Jerome, while popping his cherry, is reminded by a good humored and patient prostitute named Rowena, played by Park Overall, to keep breathing. Keep in mind I also enjoyed watching The Hangover and The 40 Year Old Virgin. I enjoyed less Jerome meeting "the perfect girl", played competently by Penelope Ann Miller. I chuckled at Private Jerome, during an arduous march, hoping for a subway, and upon arriving at Biloxi commenting that Biloxi was Africa hot, and if it stayed that hot he may not be able to stay. But, of course, he does stay. If he didn't, he would have ended up in Leavenworth, along with Private Hennessey, who is arrested for a crime that is no longer a crime.
I suspect that Neil Simon's actual experience in boot camp in Biloxi, Mississippi, wasn't a light hearted romp. But, then again, my military experience consists of exactly one semester of ROTC. Still, I think If Neil Simon can laugh at his training in the army so can we.
The film, the second of an autobiographical trilogy by Neil Simon, chronicles a group of young men enduring Army basic training during World War II. Their drill sergeant, Sgt. Toomey, played by Walken, engages an intersection between eccentricity and madness. Broderick plays private Eugene Jerome, a smart ass from New York. His fellow trainees include the whiny but weirdly courageous Private Epstein (Corey Parker), Private Wykowski (Matt Mulhern), Private Selridge (Markus Flanagan), Private Hennessey (Michael Dolan), and Private Carney (Casey Siemaszko), all of whom have the usual foibles. Absolutely no surprises here.
Many reviewers have criticized this film because it didn't provide anything new. And it doesn't. But I enjoyed this film for what it was, an entertaining lark. The performances were credible and breezy. Not every film dealing with the military has to be emotionally searing like The Deer Hunter or Platoon. Sometimes we dine at four star restaurants and sometimes we dine at Denny's. Sometimes we watch a movie in which a marine private shoots his drill sergeant to death, and then himself, as in Full Metal Jacket, and sometimes we watch a movie that has an army private ordering his drill sergeant to do 200 push ups, which is the case in Biloxi Blues.
I laugh every time I watch Biloxi Blues, particularly at the scene in which Jerome, while popping his cherry, is reminded by a good humored and patient prostitute named Rowena, played by Park Overall, to keep breathing. Keep in mind I also enjoyed watching The Hangover and The 40 Year Old Virgin. I enjoyed less Jerome meeting "the perfect girl", played competently by Penelope Ann Miller. I chuckled at Private Jerome, during an arduous march, hoping for a subway, and upon arriving at Biloxi commenting that Biloxi was Africa hot, and if it stayed that hot he may not be able to stay. But, of course, he does stay. If he didn't, he would have ended up in Leavenworth, along with Private Hennessey, who is arrested for a crime that is no longer a crime.
I suspect that Neil Simon's actual experience in boot camp in Biloxi, Mississippi, wasn't a light hearted romp. But, then again, my military experience consists of exactly one semester of ROTC. Still, I think If Neil Simon can laugh at his training in the army so can we.