Private Benjamin (1980)

 

Off-List: Private Benjamin

It may seem like an odd choice to choose a lightweight comedy like “Private Benjamin” as the third off-List movie for 1980, especially considering how many high quality movies were bypassed by the editors this year. I admit it, it is not the greatest movie ever made, but for me it is a nostalgic trip watching it. In my childhood home this was a favorite and on heavy rotation. In those days, my fascination, I believe, was the idea of this little girl going through military training though watching it again so many years later I realize there is a bit more to it.

Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn) is a spoiled and pampered girl who has always had people to take care of her. Her rich parents got her out of her first marriage to a professional tennis player and her second husband, a lawyer, died on their wedding night (the opening scene). Judy’s only qualifications are shopping and being a trophy wife. The end of her second marriage throws her so much that she is talked into joining the army (of all things), mostly to do something herself without anybody to take care of her.

To Judy’s surprise, the army is, well, the army, and a far cry from the life she has been used to. She is in fact totally unprepared for the challenges and frankly not really fit for them. Her officer, Captain Lewis (Eileen Brennan) is only too happy when Judy’s parents show up to take her home. This, however, triggers something in Judy. She is not going back to her old life but has something to prove and her effort from then on is much improved. When on the war game marking the end of basic training, she is instrumental in her side winning the game, much to Captain Lewis’ grief.

Eventually Judy meets the charming French doctor (gynecologist, no less), Henri (Armand Assante) and has to choose between married life and the army. Is she ready to lose her freedom again?

I do like Goldie Hawn. She has excellent comedic timing, always had, and this movie is more than anything a vehicle for her. She is in practically every scene of the movie, and we are not suffering for it. Everything that is fun in this movie, is fun because of her.

The basic theme of “Private Benjamin” is taking charge of your life as opposed to having other people run your life. It is so easy for Judy to just lean back and let others lead her. Her parents did it, her (brief) husband did it, Henri does it, and nobody expects anything from her but compliance. But taking charge of her own life is liberating and empowering. It makes her blossom and feel fulfilled even if it is also harder. Judy finds that she can do so much more when she gets the chance and going back, easy as it seems, just does not taste as good.

There are tons of clichés here too of course. The underdog managing to get through military service, the useless girl who can do more than she thinks if she gets the chance, but the most hilarious of the stereotypes must be the charming French deucebag and the disaster of American women getting along in France. That is a hoot, every time.

Yes, this is a lightweight comedy and, yes, it is both formulaic and stuffed with stereotypes, but it is sweet and funny and very easy to watch. And I am transported back to the eighties.

Might not work for everybody though.