Private Benjamin - A Movie Review

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Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn) is a 28-year-old Jewish princess from Philadelphia. She has no skills and only knows how to be married to a professional man. Her new husband, lawyer Yale Goodman, dies on their wedding night. Judy doesn't know what to do. She meets SFC James Ballard (Harry Dean Stanton), an Army recruiter. He leads her to believe that she will find the "family" that she seeks; and he compares the Army to a spa vacation at a country club. Judy quickly finds out that the six-week basic training is not what she was led to believe; and she cannot quit the Army just because she doesn't like it. There is mutual hatred between Judy and Captain Doreen Lewis (Eileen Brennan); and Army regulations, the disapproval of Captain Lewis and SFC Drill Sergeant L. C. Ross (Hal Williams), frustrate her. Judy finally gets her wish due to her poor performance; and her parents, Teddy and Harriet Benjamin, come to Fort Biloxi to take Judy home...but Judy changes her mind and decides to stay and finish basic training. This is really a funny movie. It was one of the biggest box office hits of 1980 with a budget of $15 million and box office receipts of $69.8 million. It is #82 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Laughs" list and #59 on Bravo's list of "100 Funniest Movies". If you've never seen it, I highly recommend it. It was released in 1980 and is rated R. Photo Credit: Pixabay