In the Army Now

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.

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.

While Son in Law is Pauly Shore's best movie, this is proves to be my personal favorite among his body of work. The premise of Shore being in the army is about hilarious as Leonardo DiCaprio demanding $25 million and getting it! Plenty of laughs either way. Anyway, this film was rather funny and sarcastic, satirizing the military and the macho attitudes which seem to be quite prevalent. While the cast (Shore, David Alan Grier, Andy Dick and Lori Petty) isn't going to impress you with their firm grasp of the thespian arts, it still was good stuff to watch. Also, Esai Morales and Art LaFleur both

provided solid supporting roles.