Biloxi Blues (1988)

A group of young recruits go through boot camp during the Second World War in Biloxi Mississippi. From the play by Neil Simon.

Director:

Mike Nichols

Writers:

Neil Simon (screenplay), Neil Simon (play)

Stars:

Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken, Matt Mulhern

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew Broderick	...	Eugene Morris Jerome
Christopher Walken	...	Sgt. Toomey
Matt Mulhern	...	Joseph Wykowski
Corey Parker	...	Arnold B. Epstein
Markus Flanagan	...	Roy Selridge
Casey Siemaszko	...	Don Carney
Michael Dolan	...	James J. Hennesey
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Daisy
Park Overall	...	Rowena
Alan Pottinger	...	Peek
Mark Evan Jacobs	...	Pinelli
David Kienzle	...	Corporal (as Dave Kienzle)
Matthew Kimbrough	...	Spitting Cook
Kirby Mitchell	...	Digger #1
Allen Turner	...	Digger #2

Storyline

A New York City teenager named Eugene Jerome enlists in the US Army during the last year of World War II in 1945. Eugene is sent to basic training at Biloxi, Mississippi where he must live with a variety of fellow soldiers from all walks of life while also enduring the whims of a mentally unstable drill sergeant.

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Plot Keywords:

boot camp | sergeant | love | u.s. army | gay | 

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Taglines:

The Army made Eugene a man. But Daisy gave him basic training!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 March 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues

Filming Locations:

Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$43,184,798 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rastar Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 102 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christopher Walken's character's full name is Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey.

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Goofs

When the platoon first meets Sgt. Toomey they are standing in an empty field across the road from the front of their barracks. Later, when they enter their barracks there is another building across the road.

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Quotes

Sergeant Toomey: Hey, Fred Astaire, you tryin' to tell me something?
Arnold Epstein: I have to go to the bathroom, sergeant.
Sergeant Toomey: You can't do that. We don't have "bathrooms" in the Army.
Arnold Epstein: They had them at Fort Dix.
Sergeant Toomey: Not bathrooms, they didn't
Arnold Epstein: Yes, they did. I went in them a lot.
Sergeant Toomey: I'm tellin' you, we don't have any "bathrooms" on this base. Do you doubt my veracity?
Arnold Epstein: No, sergeant.
Sergeant Toomey: Then you've got a problem, don't you Epstein?
Arnold Epstein: Ho ho.
[...]

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Connections

Features Buck Privates (1941)

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Soundtracks

"Fellow on a Furlough"
Written by Bobby Worth
Performed by Mark Warnow and His Orchestra

User Reviews

sublime experience

OK, we all have our favourite poignant movies right?....you know the type - the ones that hold you in rapture - time and again, because it speaks to you on a very personal level and effortlessly touches some part of your emotions that you keep hidden from the world - evoking deeply sad or blissfully happy memories from our own passage through life. Biloxi Blues is that movie for me.

Which of us do not carry emotional scars from; Our first time away from home. Our first time interacting with a group of strangers in a mutual climate. Our first sexual encounter. Our fist kiss. Our first love. Our first brush with authority. Our first glimpse at death.

Biloxi Blues is a movie that embraces many of the "rites of passage" that we all face in life and deals with them using comedy as a foil to gently explore them, without diminishing their poignancy. Neil Simon is peerless in this. The casting is faultless. The acting is immaculate. The humor is intelligent.

If you haven't seen this movie, do so. You can thank me later.