In the Army Now

Whatever happened to Pauley Shore? I guess he's still around but you didn't hear much from him after this movie, which was a decent success. It was a surprisingly-good lightweight comedy with a bunch of likable goofs and weirdos from Glendale, California, and their adventures after they join the Army Reserves.

The language was pretty tame in here but there were a lot of sexual innuendos, too many for a PG rating but not surprising in a modern-day comedy. That comedy overall is good with some laugh-out-loud scenes.

Also, as with many films, the ending gets carried away. It was really dumb, but for most of this movie it was entertaining enough to certainly recommend if you need a laugh.

This is a film that is sort of a guilty pleasure for me, what I mean by that is that its a film that I am almost ashamed to admit that I like. Pauly Shore is a lot more talented then his critics would have you believe. I am a Sergeant in the Army and on October 20th I will have ten years on active duty. I also spent six years in the National Guard and served in Operation Desert Storm. Watching military movies is fun for me because I often laugh at them and say that it is not like that in real life. This film gave me a lot of laughs. I liked the scene where Pauly dropped that grenade in basic. I would have killed him if I had been his drill sergeant. I think Lori Petty played a good part in this film. She is an underated actress who can do comedy and drama very well. People have not given her enough credit. She sort of steals the show in this movie as Christine. I was sort of reminded of my Gulf war experiences when I was watching them in the desert. I remember when our plane landed I just looked around and there was nothing only sand and thats what they see. This film understandebly never won any Oscars and I doubt if the American Film Institute will ever fight to preserve it, but it is still a nice way to waste two hours.

Although there's a lot of people who don't like Pauly Shore, apparently you either love him or hate him, I have to say that I found this film quite amusing. It takes me back to my younger days when I was a weekend warrior. The group I hung out with I'm afraid, all people who were trying to get out of the real army and Vietnam joined the reserves as I did. We were about as military a group as Pauly Shore, Andy Dick, and David Alan Grier. Back then though we were not side by side with Lori Petty. The Army in its infinite wisdom knew better than to activate our crowd for Vietnam.

But that's not what happens here. Pauly Shore and Andy Dick are a pair of misfits in civilian life and find they have a cash flow problem. That extra money for attending those Army Reserve drills sounds pretty enticing so they decide to be all that they can be on the weekends and two weeks in the summer.

But Libya and Chad go to war and like the Iraqi Desert Storm, the reserves are called up for a United Nations multi-national force. Actually Libya and Chad did have border conflicts for many years with the French attacking as protectors for Chad. Pauly, Andy, and their new friends David Alan Grier and Lori Petty are in the Sahara Desert as part of a water purification team, water boys as they're derisively called by those in the real army.

In The Army Now revives all the basic service comedy situations going all the way back to Abbott&Costello in Buck Privates. Especially in the training sequences. Pauly Shore and Andy Dick probably grew up on Bud&Lou, but they do the routines with a Generation X twist.

I liked the film and thanked God I was not in the situations that Pauly and the rest were in.

In the Army Now (1994)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Bones (Pauly Shore) and Jack (Andy Dick) decide to join the Army so that they can make some quick cash, which they plan to use for an endevor they have. However, the two didn't realize that you'd have to do real work in the Army and as soon as basic training is over they are called to battle.

Comedian Shore started to rise to fame with ENCINO MAn and SON IN LAW made him a star. His time at the top wasn't too long as IN THE ARMY now was followed by a string of bombs including JURY DUTY and BIO-DOME. These three films pretty much killed his career and his name over the title days were over.

I enjoyed Shore in the first two films that I mentioned but there's no question that this act didn't work too well. IN THE ARMY NOW is certainly better than the two films that were to follow but there's no question that there's not too much here. Five screenwriters are given credit for this mess, which is pretty much a stoner version of STRIPES where a couple misfits join the Army not knowing what they're getting into.

Shore and Dick can work apart but put them together and you've got some pretty annoying attempts at humor. The one saving grace in the film was Lynn Witfield as the sexy drill instructor who gets several jokes thrown her way. Lori Petty and David Alan Grier are both wasted in thankless roles. Sadly, the screenplay does very little and it certainly delivers very few laughs.

The problem with a film like IN THE ARMY NOW is that it seems the filmmakers thought you could be annoying as possible and this would lead to some laughs. Sadly, it didn't and you're just left with a comedy that has very few laughs.

Bones and Jack are two ne'er-do-well best friends who work odd jobs to support themselves, but really have dreams of opening their own store. Out of work and looking to make some extra cash, they enlist in the U.S. Army Reserves where they sign up to be water purification specialists. Little do they dream that they'll be sent on active duty after conflict erupts in the country of Chad. Dry comedy has its moments and is likely to please fans of its star, but it's never uproarious and never really exploits the premise for all it's worth. In most cases actor Shore is an acquired taste, but he's enjoyable and adds life here. **