Private Benjamin [M]

28 year-old Judy Benjamin has always belonged to somebody. Her life has always been planned out and dictated by the choices of her family and her lovers. On the wedding night of her second marriage, her husband suffers from a heart attack and in a spiral of grief and confusion poor pampered and gullible Judy suddenly finds herself being tricked into enlisting in a three-year stint in the army. At first, Judy willingly accepts that she’s been met with defeat, but when her parents come to take her home she realises that everyone, even her own mother and father, believe that she’s just a stupid simpleton who cannot do anything on her own. Armed with new resolve, Judy pulls herself up and, through determination, humiliation, and a few smarts she never knew she had, makes a name for herself and proves that she’s made of stronger stuff than what everyone thinks. 

A clever little comedy about self-discovery, riches to rags, and women in a man’s world, Private Benjamin is a quite often-overlooked classic. It gives its audiences a multitude of things including characters to laugh at, root for, hate, and wish sudden deaths upon. It’s really very enjoyable. 

28 year-old Judy Benjamin has always belonged to somebody. Her life has always been planned out and dictated by the choices of her family and her lovers. On the wedding night of her second marriage, her husband suffers from a heart attack and in a spiral of grief and confusion poor pampered and gullible Judy suddenly finds herself being tricked into enlisting in a three-year stint in the army. At first, Judy willingly accepts that she’s been met with defeat, but when her parents come to take her home she realises that everyone, even her own mother and father, believe that she’s just a stupid simpleton who cannot do anything on her own. Armed with new resolve, Judy pulls herself up and, through determination, humiliation, and a few smarts she never knew she had, makes a name for herself and proves that she’s made of stronger stuff than what everyone thinks. 

These sorts of films are great because they give their actors the chance to prove their stuff. The story itself is rather simple and predictable, but Goldie Hawn who stars as Private Benjamin herself delivers a most memorable and hilarious performance that just steals the show, making her a loveable and memorable comic actress in the process. 

Starring Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Robert Webber, Sam Wanamaker, Barbra Barrie, Albert Brooks, and Harry Dean Stanton, Private Benjamin is a wonderful little comedy with a story that we’ve seen time and time again in such films as Legally Blonde. Filled with action, romance, drama, and comedy, I enjoyed this movie very much.