DriftedSnowWhite This movie deserved a sequel. Maybe I missed it? In any event, I came to IMDb to see if there were opinions on what Judy does next at the end of the movie. To my surprise, in the IMDb description, it says that Judy reenlists. I don't think that point was made; rather, it is left to the audience to decide.Anyway, I started reading reviews, and my neck tensed up. Why? Because so many people write that Captain Doreen Lewis is a lesbian. First - who on earth cares? And, why then, was she drooling, and more, over Captain William Woodbridge. Good grief! If Captain Lewis' sexual preference were remotely connected to the story line, that would be a different story, but it's absolutely not. What's the problem? That Captain Lewis is a Captain?I hate it that we've become a world of sexual-preference-obsessed. It didn't used to be like that. It's not as though this heightened awareness is keeping kids and adults from getting their heads bashed in. I'd bet it happens more often. My daughter and I were almost attacked because we were holding hands and some idiots decided we were lesbians. What's wrong with them/you? This is a fine movie with great comedy, great performances, important messages... can't you ever detach from sexual preference obsession, and leave it at that? Good grief...

Gideon24 Goldie Hawn had one of her biggest hits with the 1980 comedy Private Benjamin, an entertaining comedy that provides more than its shares of laughs, even if they don't sustain the length of the entire film.Hawn received a Best Actress nomination for her enchanting performance as Judy Benjamin, a bubbly, Jewish-American Princess whose sheltered existence is completely shattered when her new husband (Albert Brooks) dies of a heart attack during sex on their wedding night. Aimless and clueless about what to do with her life now, Judy enlists in the US army on a whim after being duped by a slick recruiter (Harry Dean Stanton) about what the army could offer her.The strongest part of the film focuses on Judy's complete ignorance about the military and what it involves, including her disappointment at learning that green is the only color the uniforms come in. Judy's struggle with army life is further complicated by her battle of wits with her hard-nosed commanding officer, Captain Doreen Lewis (supporting actress nominee Eileen Brennan). The hate/hate relationship between Judy and Lewis is the strongest part of this comedy and just as it reaches a fever pitch, Judy's parents arrive at the base to take their baby home because they had no idea what she had done and, in a moment that induces cheers, Judy grows up and tells her parents she is going to stay.Surprisingly, this is where the film begins to lose steam as Judy is drafted as part of an elite military squad and becomes involved with a European playboy (Armand Assante), who wants to turn Judy back into the spoiled princess she was, completely dependent on a man that she used to be, but the film is still worth watching.Howard Zeiff's spirited direction is a plus as is the solid support provided by Barbara Barrie and Sam Wanamaker as Judy's parents, Mary Kay Place as one of Judy's fellow soldiers and Robert Webber as the squad leader who recruits the new Judy for his team and though the film does peter out, it is a pleasure most of the way, thanks primarily to Hawn and Brennan, who makes their roles sizzle.

Gordon-11 This film is about a unfortunate young lady whose husband dies on their wedding night. She copes with her sorrow by mistakenly enlisting in the United States army."Private Benjamin" is very funny! Even the film is already thirty years old, the jokes are timeless. The scene that Goldie Hawn explaining that she is sent to the wrong army is hilarious. Well, actually the whole section about her adjusting to the fact that Army life is not a holiday is hilarious. Even though I have seen similar story lines before, it is still hilarious. If only all the comedies stood the test of time like "Private Benjamin"!

jbartelone One would believe, with the talents of Goldie Hawn, that Private Benjamin would be a comedy smash hit. While it has its moments, it falls short of the mark needed for a great movie.The first half is good. Goldie Hawn's Judy Benjamin lives a ritzy social life. Judy is the spoiled pampered princes who faces uncertainty and confusion about her future when her husband (in an all too brief occurrence by Albert Brooks) Yale dies on their wedding night.Depressed, downtrodden, and seeking self-fulfillment. Judy decides to join the Army after visiting her local recruiting office. She is told about how wonderful the Army is, and decides to try it. Judy is convinced that the Army is like it's advertised on TV, with yachts and exciting adventures.Predictably, Judy struggles through basic training with a mean drill sergeant. The other women in her platoon squad at first resent her, but gradually warm up to her, pulling pranks on the drill sergeant and laughing at Judy's jokes and campfire stories about her life. Goldie does a fine job with the material here. However, the script IS predictable, and strained. The last good part of the movie is the Thornbird's parachute training sequence to the song, "The Battle Hymn of The Republic." Than the movie falls apart in the second half. After basic training, Judy's squad is recruited to France where she reunites with family and friends at a bar. She quickly falls for a French man and the movie becomes a mess. It's never really explained why Judy would have feelings for such a man. At this point, the story almost becomes a totally different movie where the viewer no longer cares and just wants the movie to end. A rapid wedding is planned, but before the ceremony, Judy comes to the realization that the Frenchmen was just using her. He insults her, she responds by decking him, than says, "don't call me stupid" and walks out of the church, a liberated woman.It is as if the writers ran out of the good Army material in the first half of the movie. Than they sloppily tacked on Judy's relationship to the Frenchmen, because they needed to stretch the movie for another half hour. The lesson here is you can't just take what would have been a good movie had it focused on Goldie Hawn in the Army exclusively, and tack on a subplot that makes no sense and offers no explanation for why it's there, other than to add time to the picture.What could have been a 7/10 movie gets downgraded to a 5/10 because of this. There is not enough good story plot in Private Benjamin for it to succeed as a full-length movie.