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.

It's because this movie turned me onto Live (The Dam At Otter Creek) the song that plays while they are roaming through the desert. I didn't know Paul Mooney had a bit role in this until I watched it again. If you hate Pauly Shore (who isn't bad in this) you should at least like Lori Petty, Andy Dick, David Alan Grier and Lynn Whitfield.

This whole movie was trying to look like the 90s version of the 1981 comedy classic "Stripes" starring Bill Murray and Harold Ramis. the story is so silly and stupid, the character are unpredictable and even the jokes are so lame despite being Pauly's Shore last film as a surfer until Bio-dome 2 years later since he had to get his head shave for the scene of the head shaving in this movie and even the budget went; there's even a few cameos in this film including Brendan Fraser as Link who also appeared with Pauly Shore in "Encino Mean" and "Son in Law" and yet the last film that Pauly Shore did as part of a three-film contract with Hollywood Pictures, so instead check out "Stripes" which is even better in my book.

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.

It's Pauly Shore. It is what it is. However, i do have one, personally infamous issue with this movie. Oh sure, i can laugh about it now b/c it was so long ago, but at the time, i could have beat Pauly Shore with any number of garden tools. you see... I was going through basic training for the Army at Ft. Sill in 1994 and was "asked" by my drill sergeant's to be one of the unwittingly captive extras out there running in place in the "EXTEND TO THE LEFT---MARCH!!!" scene. That's right, sports fans, i was one of those poor souls kept out of bed until the wee hours of the morning so that Mr. Shore could have his early morning Army PT scene. Only it wasn't early morning. It was filmed in about three takes between the hours of 2000 and 2400. That's 9:00p.m. 'til midnight. For those or us who know, sleep in basic training is a rare and valued commodity and Mr. Shore took about four of the six hours i got away that night. So, needless to say, my fellow recruits and I didn't much care for Mr. Shore, especially at 0300 the next morning when the training day started. we somehow got through it but never really got over it. It wasn't until a few years later that I finally got to watch the movie. That infamous scene comes on and guess what I see. I see my bald-headed self out there running in place clear as day...well, night. It's only for maybe three seconds, but it's long enough to be confirmed by a number of people. So, there it is, three seconds of my fifteen minutes of fame used in a Pauly Shore movie. wow.