Private Benjamin (Full Screen Edition)
by Howard Zieff
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Armand Assante, Eileen Brennan, Goldie Hawn, Robert Webber, Sam WanamakerDirector: Howard Zieff
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: Pan & Scan, 1.33:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1997-10-29
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Private Benjamin (Full Screen Edition)
Movie Review: All present and correct
Summary: 4 Stars
The service comedy is a genre almost as old as cinema itself and, whether it's Charlie Chaplin or Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe in the trenches, Andy Griffith befuddling his sergeants, the Carry On team on the assault course or Steve Guttenberg and co at the Police Academy, has an almost immutable formula that is never, ever departed from: through mildly comic misadventure misfit(s) find themselves in the army/navy/air force/police force, are hopelessly unprepared for the harsh realities of basic training, fumble every task yet somehow come out of it all as the perfect soldier/sailor/airman/cop and prove themselves in a mildly comic baptism of fire. Private Benjamin does absolutely nothing to fix what ain't broke, contenting itself to offer the odd slight tweak and flavoring with a mild dose of Jewish humor as Goldie Hawn's sheltered princess finds herself talked into joining the `new' army by Harry Dean Stanton's smooth-talking recruiting sergeant after husband Albert Brooks dies in the throes of passion before the honeymoon even starts ("Do you remember what the last thing he said was?" asks his distraught mother, eliciting the reply "I'm coming.").
While it's a given that there are no surprises whatsoever, it's one of those comedies that manages to be pretty consistently funny throughout even if there aren't many really big laughs out of sheer likeability. Hawn's character is not too bright but not too Hilton with it - her character arc is not just from dependence to self-reliance but more importantly from not being able to understand why Jill Clayburgh walked out on Alan Bates in An Unmarried Woman to being able to make the same choice herself, in the process tackling sexism rather more effectively than G.I. Jane did 17 years later. Eileen Brennan is clearly having a ball as the obligatory sadistic training officer out to make her life hell and there's a quietly impressive supporting cast filling out the ranks as well as a memorable Bill Conti score. It only really misses its step slightly in the scenes where her Monsieur Right (Armand Assante) rather clumsily turns out to be Monsieur Wrong at the end, as if afraid of losing the audience's sympathy long after she's won them over, but not enough to squander the goodwill it's earned by then.
Summary of Private Benjamin (Full Screen Edition)
A 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 SimantonGoldie 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 AssanteRunning Time: 110 min.System Requirements:Interactive Menus Production Notes Scene Access Dolby Digital Theatrical Trailer Languages: English & French Subtitles: English French & Spanish Standard version has been modified from its original version; it has been formatted to fit your screen. Interactive Menus Production Notes Theatrical Trailer Video Format: Standard 1.33:1 (4.3) English: Dolby Digital Stereo French: Dolby Digital Mono Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: R UPC: 085391107521
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