Private Benjamin (Full Screen Edition)
by Howard Zieff
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Actor: Armand Assante, Eileen Brennan, Goldie Hawn, Robert Webber, Sam WanamakerDirector: Howard Zieff
Brand: Warner Brothers
Producer: Goldie Hawn
Producer: Charles Shyer
Writer: Charles Shyer
Producer: Harvey Miller
Writer: Harvey Miller
Producer: Nancy Meyers
Writer: Nancy Meyers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 109 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1997-10-29
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Model: 11075
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of Private Benjamin (Full Screen Edition)
DVD Review: One of Goldie Hawn's Best Comedies
Summary: 4 Stars
Goldie Hawn has long had a knack for comedy. "Private Benjamin" is one of her best comedies. The "Jewish Princess" persona wears a little thin in a few places, but most of the time the comedy works well.
Judy Benjamin (Hawn) has led a pampered life. We learn this early in the movie when Judy becomes upset that the upholsterer has failed to find an obscure color for an ottoman. The movie proceeds to develop Judy's character as that of a woman that has received excessive luxuries from everyone in her life, with the only requirement that she be obedient. As we join the movie, it seems that Judy is about to get her life long wish. She is about to marry a man of great promise, her parents are thrilled, and she has tons of expensive wedding gifts. Unfortunately for Judy, the wedding night exertions are too much for her new spouse, and Judy finds herself a newlywed widow.
Judy learns that she is good for little. She is non-functional as a secretary. Judy is spoiled to the point of absurdity. She is unable to cook. I doubt she knows how to clean house. Judy realizes she needs to get her life moving along again, but she does not know how. A fortuitous phone call has Judy visiting an Army recruiter, where she learns that modern army life is full of beautiful bases, condos, and yachts, not to mention great medical benefits. Judy believes the recruiters picture of Army life, and heads off to basic training.
Basic training is filled with the lovely accommodating people that you might anticipate. Judy quickly learns that her recruiter misled her more than a lot. Captain Doreen Lewis (Eileen Brennan) initially makes Judy's life a living hell. Judy wants to quit the Army, but a visit from her parents makes Judy realize that she is tired of people pushing her around, so Judy turns into a model soldier.
Judy turns misfortune into embarrassment for Captain Lewis. Judy catches her current love interest Captain William Woodbridge (Craig T. Nelson) in a rather interesting position with a fellow recruit. Judy and a small band of misfits manage to take guard duty of a swamp and turn it into a major embarrassment of Captain Lewis, but glory for Judy and her gang. After Captain Lewis punishes the barracks once more for all the embarrassment she has received, Judy and her fellow recruits get their revenge with a little bit of dye.
Judy's life seems to have hit a turning point. She is in charge of herself and doing well. She turns another embarrassing incident into a European assignment. Judy soon finds the man of her dreams, again. Unfortunately, Captain Lewis also has an assignment at the same facility, and she still wants to make Private Benjamin's life as difficult as possible. Life becomes very interesting for Judy as she decides how to stay in control of her life.
This movie has far more humor than my mellow review would intimate. This movie has numerous one-liners that bring smiles all the way to serious laughs. Judy Benjamin complains to Captain Lewis that she signed up with a different Army, the one with the condos and the yachts. When a drill sergeant tells Private Benjamin that she is only permitted to stop running if she is puking, she does; on his shoes. When Captain Lewis tells Judy that she is not fit to wear an Army uniform, Judy replies that she has been trying to tell her that.
Goldie Hawn does an excellent job of bringing the role of Private Benjamin to life. She performed so well that she was nominated for a Best Actress in a Leading Role. Eileen Brennan was also outstanding, and was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Both nominations were well deserved.
This movie is rated R because it has several scenes that are bit risqué. Considering today's standards, an R rating seems a little excessive. Regardless, this movie is not a family movie.
The occasional bumpy spots in the movie are more than compensated for by the humor of the rest of the movie. This movie is one that I watch when I want light comedy with guaranteed funny jokes. After watching this movie a half dozen times, I suspect I will watch it many more times. Now, if they would release this movie in a wide screen format, this movie would be even better.
Description of Private Benjamin (Full Screen Edition)
Goldie Hawn wins the Comedy Medal of Honor in this box-office smash about a pampered, upper-middle class princess who joins "today's Army." Eileen Brennen and Armand Assante co-star. Year: 1980 Director: Howard Zieff Starring: Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennen, Armand AssanteA pampered socialite (Goldie Hawn) is so distraught after the wedding-night death of her husband (Albert Brooks) that she up and joins the Army. She whines, she pouts, she brings the corps down, until, of course, she gets with it. Eileen Brennan received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role as the butch Captain Doreen Lewis, Benjamin's nemesis. Funny and winning, the film takes an odd turn when Benjamin is assigned to the international theater and gets involved with a dour Frenchman (Armand Assante). Of course, it's all part of Benjamin's growth as a person, and the part confirmed that Hawn had gone from a go-go girl to a "you go" girl. --Keith Simanton
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