bkoganbing
Goldie Hawn as Judy Benjamin is your typical Philadelphia Jewish princess with two husbands already, one quickly annulled, one expiring on their honeymoon night. Seeking something to give life meaning again she meets with an army recruiter and finds herself pushing Mississippi away from her numerous times as Private Benjamin.This turns out for Goldie Hawn to be one of her career roles, it even spawned a TV series though Hawn did not do it for the small screen. It also won her a Best Actress Oscar nomination for herself and a Supporting Actress nomination for her screen nemesis Eileen Brennan as her basic training company commander. Private Benjamin also got a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.Some 30 years earlier Rosalind Russell also found a home in the army when she did Never Wave At A WAC. A lot of similarities except that Russell was a good deal older when she decided to enlist. Her film was also more of a recruiting commercial for the Women's Army Corps.Hawn's army in 1980 was a great deal more integrated although we would not see women in combat roles until the Gulf War. Still Hawn goes through some rigorous training.She also has a good military mind, pulling out a war game sequence in a similar manner to The Dirty Dozen. She gets the goods on General Robert Webber so to speak and also has mixed results in the romance department with Armand Assante. As a woman who has now learned to be all she can be, she will not be a trophy wife for an Alpha male Frenchman.Funniest scene for me is Goldie complaining about the latrine facilities and Brennan showing her what she can do about it.45+ years later and Private Benjamin still a very good and very funny film.
g-bodyl
Private Benjamin is a decent movie, maybe just a step or two above mediocrity. There are some amusing moments and even a laugh-out-loud moment or two, but the film does fall flat at its feet more times than not. The premise is good, but I felt the film faltered towards the latter half of the movie. The romance she strikes with the French guy seems so forced and unbelievable. I did like the scenes when she was in basic training though. This film is about a fragile woman named Judy Benjamin who joins the Army after her husband died on their wedding day. She quickly finds out that the Army is different from which she was told it would be. One of the redeeming points of the movie is the acting. Goldie Hawn had good comedic timing and her character was a good satire. I really liked Eileen Brennan's performance as Captain Doreen Lewis, who tries to make Judy's life hell. Robert Webber's performance as Colonel Clay Thornbush was also quite memorable. Overall, I really wanted to enjoy Private Benjamin a whole lot more than I did, but I really couldn't. The movie isn't terrible, but it just isn't great either. The performances are fine enough, but the story needs tweaking and the romance towards the end was just unnecessary. There were some funny moments, but that is when Judy was in training. I rate this film 6.5/10.
blueleo65
This must be the most under rated, under appreciated, overlooked comedy ever. It was never even released in Wide-screen on DVD. Goldie Hawn shines as the main Character Judy Benjamin as well as Eileen Brennen as the tough sergeant. Oh, and did I mention how funny it is.It is the Story of Judy Benjamin, a newly married Jewish "Princess" with over protective Parents. To them, Judy is the typical "be pretty and stay quiet" kind of a girl. They marry her off to a doctor as every nice Jewish girl must do. This begins a journey of self discovery for Judy and we are taken along for the ride. As the title insinuates, she joins the Army and begins to develop into the woman that deep down she knew she could be.I never understood why this movie has been cast aside. Maybe the audience does not want to see a mature, thoughtful Goldie Hawn. It's one of my favorites, and I hope one day it gets the treatment that it deserves on Blu-Ray.
j-lacerra
Many reviewers here have compared this movie to Stripes, which came out the following year. Beyond the fact of the Army setting, and the participation of P.J. Soles, I see nothing in common between this thoughtful and well-acted production, and Stripes, an unfunny, undisciplined farcial bore. On its own merits, Private Benjamin develops characters you can care about (or hate), shows significant metamorphosis of the title character, and plays out countless funny scenes and situations.The war-games scenario has been done and done endlessly (ref. The Dirty Dozen, etc), but is played for humor here with great success. Eileen Brennan is the CO everyone loves to hate, and gets her comeuppance more than once in PB, to the audience's delight.Support is solidified with performances by P.J. Soles, Albert Brooks, Harry Dean Stanton, Robert Webber, Craig T. Nelson, and, perhaps best of all, Sam Wanamaker as Judy Benjamin's doting yet controlling father.The final portion of the movie involves our heroine conceiving matrimony with a slick and caddish French gynecologist, played to perfection by Armand Assante. This culminates in our being treated to an ending that leaves the world wide open to Judy, thanks to her Army experience of maturing and self-discovery.A good choice for viewing any time.
AD
