Private Benjamin

R

Released Oct 10, 1980

1 hr. 49 min.

Comedy

List

83%

35 Reviews

Tomatometer

60%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A Jewish-American princess, Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn), is devastated when her husband (Albert Brooks) drops dead on their wedding night. While she grieves a duplicitous recruiter for the Women's Army Corps convinces her to enlist. Judy thinks her enlistment is like a vacation but Captain Lewis (Eileen Brennan) quickly dashes her hopes of an easy time. As Judy goes through basic training like any other grunt, she becomes a good soldier and develops a sense of self-esteem.

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Critics Consensus

Private Benjamin proves a potent showcase for its Oscar-nominated star, with Hawn making the most of a story that rests almost completely on her daffily irresistible charm.

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Mike P

(Spoilers) Hilarious service comedy; this is Hawn's best; one of the better comedies of the last generation. Ths movie puts fellow service comedy MASH to shame! It's much, much better than that misogynistic piece of garbage! And Stripes was a blatant ripoff of this. Gene Siskel called this a "female Beetle Bailey"; which is about right. Maybe a Mrs. Beetle Bailey with a feminist twist? We have an unlikely trajectory here where a spoiled Jewish Princess is conned into joining the army by recruiter Harry Dean Stanton. This brat gets her comeuppance in a hilarious series of service comedy set pieces; classics all of them; and then our heroine unexpectedly gets a taste of self esteem and decides to take her life and her self a little more seriously; and with a little more respect. It's a nice twist and a real surprise for the audience. Real life BFFs Goldie Hawn and Eileen Brennan are just wonderful here as foils; as recruit and seargent; respectively. They have great chemistry ; the sadistic Nurse Ratched against crazy dame Lucille Ball. Brennan would go on to win an Emmy for playing this role in the tv series; and Hawn was nominated for an Oscar for her comedic chops (a rarity) for her flawless performance; which is tailer made to her; the role, the writing, the story and the character arc, and it all works beautifully. The script was also nominated for an Oscar; deservedly. Also nice, inspiring (and unsung) score by Rocky composer Bill Conti; it's really quite lovely. This movie is full of little surprises like that; it's not just a goofy service comedy. The only flaw here is that the movie repeats itself in the final act. After leaving the army with honors; Benjamin marries a beautiful French millionaire, (Armand Assante; the epitome of her lifelong man-fantasy); who first sweeps her off her feet; and who then immediately swats her down to subservient little girl status; only to have her rebel again and walk out on the wedding; redeeming her self esteem once again at the ending. This is nice, but we just saw this in part 1! This is a repeat of the first act thematically; where she goes from subservient little princess to strong self-dependent heroine at the end. Instead of repeating the first act, they should have pushed things forward in the second act. Maybe Judy has to do a rescue mission of a bunch of fellow recruits, (a la Stripes; which has a better second act than this). Something which challenges the character more; rather than have her regress and repeat herself. But even taking that into consideration this is still an excellent comedy. Hawn's hilarious turn as a goofball recruit and her hilarious stunts during basic training are worth the price of admission alone; and more than redeem the draggy second act. Look fast for PJ Soles and Craig T Nelson in the background. Highly Recommended.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

12/01/22

Full Review

robert p

Goldie Hawn is a Genius from her humble beginning on Rowan and Martin's Laugh in!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"Private Benjamin" works best as a comedy when we're following Hawn's character through boot camp, but this only encompasses 50%, if not less, of the film's focus. The other 50-51% runs on an outdated level of comedy that pokes fun at stereotypical blondes. It becomes rather tiresome and irritable long before the credits roll.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Feel good movie. Funny. Classic Goldie 7/10

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I struggle a bit with the plausibility of the premise in Private Benjamin. I simply found it hard to believe that army recruiters would be so brazen about lying to people in order to get them to enlist. However, I’m all for an unlikely story of a screw-up being whipped into shape by the military. It is fodder for a lot of comedy, and I think that’s where this movie shines. Those early scenes where we see her struggling through boot camp, and the contentious relationship with her drill instructor (played to perfection by Eileen Brennan) are rife with good laughs. It’s kind of sad that the movie seems so anxious to move on from that storyline. There is some serious fast-forwarding through the fun of the movie thanks to needless montages. The real problem with Private Benjamin is that it is a movie which should be about a spoiled-rotten rich girl learning to be useful, but instead it seems more interested in exploring her love life. The entire opening is an exploration of her new marriage and all that comes with that relationship, and then the final act is entirely about another romance that seems clearly doomed from the start. Pretty much everything after she leaves boot camp was disappointing for me, and I was struggling to figure out who thought that was a good idea. I still enjoy Goldie Hawn in any comedy setting, though. She has great timing, and tells a lot of the story with just her exaggerated expressions. My memory of Private Benjamin was that it was hilarious and all about her boot camp experience. Turns out that’s what I thought because that is the only memorable part of a film which drags on through more plot than it needed.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/21

Full Review

Audience Member

This is an amazing showcase for Goldie Hawn's talents Judy just gets married and she's ready to start her happy life It's stinks her husband dies though and she doesn't know what to do next Harry Dean Stanton comes in recruiting her to be a soldier; only 89,000 women are given certain opportunities but the ones that make it get great work experience, traveling luxuries, and are given a steady pay Judy gets the worst experience at the women's army Corp school from being yelled at to being pushed around to being bullied by Captain Lewis. Judy goes through hell but it builds up her self esteem and confidence even further, it might be just the thing she needs to get over her grief and open a part of herself she never knew. And judging from how her parents react to this decision she's determined to prove that she's capable of making her own decisions not being fully dependent on anyone. The first two thirds are quite funny with several gags. Judy finally graduates and the movie shifts to her moving to Europe falling in love with a man named Enrie. But her superiors are worried she's associated with a communist so she has to choose between her duties or her feelings for him. Of course does it mean she'll go back to the snarky superficial flimsy person she was before or will she stick to her guns as a decorated soldier? Goldie Hawn shines in this movie perfectly reacting to the many things the army throws at her and growing better traits because of it. I guess it shows that a simple mistake such as enlisting might be the perfect wake up call to break old habits.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

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Howard Zieff

Director

Goldie Hawn

Pvt. Judy Benjamin

Eileen Brennan

Capt. Doreen Lewis

Armand Assante

Henri Alan Tremont

Robert Webber

Col. Clay Thornbush

Sam Wanamaker

Teddy Benjamin

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John M. McGuire

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Whether the collaboration of three screen writers gave this sometimes delightful, sometimes interminable motion picture an identity crisis, is anyone's guess.

Jul 12, 2022

Full Review

Gary Arnold

Washington Post

"Private Benjamin" seems coarse, sluggish and interminable as a comedy scenario, but the profoundly depressing aspect of it is that Goldie Hawn appears to be receding as a comedienne and emerging as a boss lady.

May 8, 2017

Full Review

William Thomas

Empire Magazine

This is arguably although unfortunately Goldie Hawn's most memorable role.

Rated: 3/5

May 8, 2017

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The film doesn't spoof the U.S. military as much as it pokes fun at people too fragile or ill-prepared for strict discipline, physical fitness, and zealous teamwork.

Rated: 7/10

Jan 2, 2022

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a fairly familiar premise that's mostly employed to affable effect by filmmaker Howard Zieff...

Rated: 2.5/4

Mar 14, 2020

Full Review

Jesús Fernández Santos

El Pais (Spain)

Within the limitations of the genre, this story of private Benjamin ends up being entertaining at times. It doesn't add anything new, but it brings to us a new and special performance from the brilliant actress Goldie Hawn. [Full Review in Spanish]

Aug 16, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

A Jewish-American princess, Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn), is devastated when her husband (Albert Brooks) drops dead on their wedding night. While she grieves a duplicitous recruiter for the Women's Army Corps convinces her to enlist. Judy thinks her enlistment is like a vacation but Captain Lewis (Eileen Brennan) quickly dashes her hopes of an easy time. As Judy goes through basic training like any other grunt, she becomes a good soldier and develops a sense of self-esteem.

Director: Howard Zieff
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Bros.
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 10, 1980, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2010

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