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PROTOCOL(1984) Goldie Hawn, Chris Sarandon, and Richard Romanus.

In this film, Hawn plays Sunny Davis, a ditzy cocktail waitress who becomes famous around america after she saves a man from an assassination attempt. She gets offered a job working at Washington D.C.

This was an above average comedy, but not as good as some of Goldies' other films.(such as Overboard, Housesitter, and Seems like Old Times)But i did laugh a lot. So if you enjoy a cute comedy, I would recommend this movie.

PROTOCOL: 6.4/10

PG; some sexual humor, brief language, and mild violence.

"Protocol" is a hit-and-miss picture starring Goldie Hawn as a bubbly cocktail waitress who one night saves the life of a visiting Arab from an assassination attempt. The woman immediately becomes a celebrity, and gets a new job working for the U.S. Government. Will the corridors of power in our nation's capital ever be the same? Hawn is excellent as usual even though "Protocol" isn't as funny as her best film "Private Benjamin". But it's still a good movie, and I did laugh alot.

*** (out of four)

The very first scene of "Protocol" is all wrong: Goldie Hawn (again playing a sweet ditz) holds up traffic on a busy Washington, D.C. street when her car breaks down. Not only has her engine blown but she can't get out of the car because the door is also broken. Who wrote this? Buck Henry?!! Hard to believe, but it gets worse. Hawn saves a Middle Eastern leader from being assassinated and becomes the toast of the town--but only until jealous and nefarious White House insiders attempt to make her look foolish. Goldie Hawn only looks foolish when she's required to act too dippy for her age, but I cannot think of any "young" actress who could've gotten away with this role either. Early on there's a bouncy press-conference sequence with many funny lines, but too often the script is loaded down with groaners. An uncontrolled party scene near the finish brings everything to a screeching halt, with characters we don't like acting even more moronic than usual. It nearly makes "Private Benjamin" look like Shakespeare. ** from ****

Unlike many 1980s Hollywood comedies, "Protocol" has all but been forgotten today. It doesn't take very long upon watching it to figure out why. The main problem is simple: the script. It's hard to believe at first that Buck Henry, who earlier wrote humorous movies such as "The Graduate" and "What's Up Doc?", wrote this movie. But it doesn't seem to have been his fault, since he was working with a story outline written by THREE writers. Those three writers came up with a story that has been done many times before and since, concerning a ditz who is pushed into a position of power but proves in the end to be smarter than everyone thought. Oh, it could have been made to be funny, but it isn't, partly due to the predicable nature of the movie, but that it's been directed with a woeful lack of energy and snap. There's also a curious fragmented narrative at times, as if some key linking scenes were never filmed or cut out in the editing room. The only good thing about the movie is Goldie Hawn, who gives her character a good amount of spunk and sympathy, but it isn't enough to save things.

First the standard/boring parts. I am not particularly a fan of Goldie Hawn, or the other actors. As with many politics movies, this one has "a nobody" plucked from obscurity and thrust to the attention of the nation. International relations and diplomacy are 'the angle' to which this movie enters Hollywood's political lansdcape. It is not done particularly well.

Now to the reason I am writing this review.. a day after I watched the movie. The movie has a low key element to it. That is it does not attempt to be bigger than what it is. As a result, it helps to normalize politics. Makes a case that anyone can become a politician. I consider that to be an important message. Now in the 2020s.. more than ever.. there is this political class. Big money is more involved than ever.

I did not think I would be writing a review for this movie as the closing credits rolled up (I rarely write any). Let alone that it would be a positive one... or at least have a positive aspect to it. Yet, here we are. It is what it is.