For the Boys (1991) User Reviews

(7/10) Midler shines in epic tearjerker

[David Fick · 7/10 · 23 April 2000]

"For The Boys" is the story of two people - the irrepressible Dixie Leonard (Bette Midler) and the instantly dislikable but ever popular Eddie Sparks (James Caan). Set against the backdrop of wars in which the United States has been involved, the film moves from station to station as the pair entertain the boys while they bicker and fight amongst themselves.

The film starts with an aged Midler telling a studio assistant (Arye Gross) her tale, starting in the forties with World War II, moving through the was in Korea and climaxing in Vietnam. Along the way, she gets to sing a few classic tunes, including "Stuff Like That There" and "P.S. I Love You, as part of the stage act of comedian Eddie Sparks.

Bette Midler delivers a fine performance as the embittered Dixie Leonard who has seen it all in fifty odd years in the business. She layers her performance with emotion after emotion and has the gift of bringing out that quality in her fellow actors. The highlight of this film is her understated performance of "In My Life" at the small Vietnamese camp - truly a moment when the world stops turning and we are graced with a glimpse of heaven. James Caan, playing a quintessential son of a bitch, is less comfortable in his role but has some fine moments opposite his dynamic co-star.

The purpose of this film is not to document the wars which form such an integral backdrop to the plot. It succeeds primarily as a story of people - their suffering and their joy is real and it affects the audience in no uncertain terms. You will either love or hate this movie. Either way, take the time to decide - its worth the screening even if only for the divine Miss M.

boy oh boy

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 30 April 2006]

In full brassy form, Bette Midler plays Dixie Leonard, who does USO performances in WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Throughout pleasant times and hard times (and even through tragedies), she and co-star Eddie Sparks (James Caan) always have to find a way to make sure that the show goes on.

I don't know whether I would call this a masterpiece, but it's some good nostalgia. Midler shows off her talents the same as she did in "The Rose". And moreover, "For the Boys" also looks at the sorts of things going on during those wars, including Cold War-era red-baiting. Worth seeing.

Bette's powerhouse performance sustains a somewhat lackluster film

[Isaac5855 · 7/10 · 3 April 2007]

Bette Midler proves that she can single-handedly make a film worth watching in FOR THE BOYS, an overlong but rewarding comedy-drama with music which chronicles the relationship between singer Dixie Leonard and comic Eddie Sparks (James Caan), a character clearly patterned after Bob Hope, which begins during a WWII USO tour and concludes in the present where the glamorously aging couple are being reunited for a television special. Bette received her second Best Actress Oscar nomination for her commanding performance here, She lights up the screen whether Dixie is upstaging Eddie in front of thousands of troops during WWII, cursing out sponsors during her and Eddie's television show, or tearing Eddie a new one when she thinks he is trying to steal her son away from her. As expected, she makes the most of her musical moments in the film with "Stuff Like that There" and "Come Rain or Come Shine" as standouts. Caan works hard in the role of Eddie Sparks, managing to make a pretty despicable character rather likable for the majority of the story. The only big mistake here was director Mark Rydell's casting of his real-life son, Christopher in the pivotal role of Dixie's adult son. Rydell's lifeless performance is a major detriment to an important part of the film, but for the most part, FOR THE BOYS is grand entertainment, thanks to the Divine Miss M.

POIGNANT AND ENTERTAINING

[aroth15 · 12 November 2004]

A wonderful epic on war, modern American history, entertainment, and music. There is hardly a subject it doesn't touch on, from the 1950s Blacklist, to the antiwar movement in the 1960s, to the exploitation of talent, and to betrayal of friendship in politics and in marriage. All the performances are superb: Midler is extraordinary--her singing, acting, dancing and characterization are peerless; James Caan in one of the finest roles in his post-Godfather career, conveys the talented smarmy-but-sentimental Eddie Sparks; George Segal in a finely nuanced role as Caan's writer, and Arye Gross, who sets the entire backdrop for the story, all are excellent. On top of a plot-line that never sags, we are treated to a musical feast: Many old standards and obscure songs with orchestrations and vocal arrangements that are all first-rate, and the performances are flawless. The dramatization and attention to detail in the various historical periods is accurate and fascinating. Some may find the film too sentimental or simplistic: but it is a film, not an historical study, and sentimentality is different from sentiment. And finally, a movie that not only offers great music, great comedy, a story on an epic scale with characters that are realistic and has you crying in three or four magnificently poignant scenes is truly rare.

Bette's Best?

[damianphelps · 7/10 · 27 February 2021]

Obviously given her background this is hardly a stretch for Bette. However rather than dial it in she gives a bombastic performance that makes this quite an entertaining film.

The story doesn't wow you, rather it just provides a vehicle for Bette to strut her stuff.

Worth a look :)

biopic-like

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 29 August 2016]

Production assistant Jeff Brooks (Arye Gross) tries to convince Dixie Leonhard (Bette Midler) to join Eddie Sparks (James Caan) on his TV special. Dixie is bitter and recounts her history with Eddie. During WWII, Dixie is overjoyed to sing with Eddie. On the other hand, he is dismissive at first and angry at her crude humor. Art Silver (George Segal) convinces them to be an entertainment duo. Dixie's husband gets killed in the war. During Korea, they get caught up in the fighting. Art is blacklisted and Eddie is forced to fire him. Dixie's son Danny starts rebelling and sees Eddie as a father figure. Danny joins the military for Vietnam and Dixie blames Eddie for his lost.

The construction is very flat and biopic-like. The problem is that it's not a biography and it doesn't have that extra appeal. There is very little intensity and the drama has no tension. The central conflict centers on Danny and yet he is no more than a prop. This movie should be mostly about the conflict between Eddie and Dixie over Danny. That's the only place where the drama has any tension.

plays better in 2005

[ptb-8 · 7/10 · 5 July 2005]

FOR THE BOYS might just be a "Better Midler" film today, in a period of another middle east war and albeit a more tragic and unpopular one with a far more critical and on going media focus than the first 1991 war.....This exceptionally well made musical drama, made for about $70 million in 1991 and really a protest musical parable, did not reach the intended at the time and the first Iraq war was over before this film had a chance to make an impact. Seen in 2006, now is actually the right time for this film. We are also quite a while from other Bette Midler films of the 80s and as a result FTB has a stronger solo spotlight. Having appreciated this film in that light, I believe it is possibly one of the last great semi musicals of the 20th century and is helped immeasurably by a very pungent script. At times it is not unlike NEW YORK NEW YORK both in look and romantic combat. Cann and Midler work so well against and with each other, underlined by George Segal in a role that is actually substantial for him. Apparently this is loosely based on the life of Martha Raye, who complained bitterly upon release that "this fact" was not recognized. FOR THE BOYS is a major musical film but tapers off tune wise in the last 40 minutes while the starling and harrowing (but slightly illogical) Vietnam War scenes are played out. Midler is front and center star at all times and the production values show the huge budget well spent on screen. If reissued today might get a better reception given the Iraq war to play against and therefore have more impact. It's a good film, serious and with excellent music and comedy in the first hour especially.

Political clichés sink a promising film

[fwmurnau · 3/10 · 20 March 2005]

After FOR THE BOYS flopped at the box office, Bette Midler angrily told the press she would never make another musical.

But the trouble was she DIDN'T make a musical. She threw a few numbers into a heavy-handed "message picture" that strikes political poses which are obvious and overly-familiar.

It starts out so well, a real old-time star vehicle, perfectly showcasing Midler's musical and comedic gifts, but less than an hour in, it transforms into something much less interesting.

Musical numbers disappear, replaced by pious liberal sermonettes, teaching us that blacklisting, patriotism, sexism, and the Viet Nam war are all Very Bad.

FOR THE BOYS illustrates the damage done to a story when the writers refuse to be fair to a major character. Here, James Caan is painted in such broad strokes as a two-dimensional villain (sexist! adulterous! untalented! corrupt!), the whole film becomes a cartoon.

By the time you see them in the worst old age make-up in Hollywood history (it looks like someone stuck pie dough on Midler and Caan's faces), what little credibility remains is swept away for good.

But the first 45 minutes reminds you how great Midler can be in the right vehicle. Will someone please cast her in another musical? A REAL one this time.

Did we see the same movie?

[kmarquis-2 · 10/10 · 4 March 2006]

I thought this movie was a 10+! The flashback format is interesting and watching the characters' lives and attitudes progress through the present-day Dixie's reminiscences. This is why it is puzzling to me that another person's comment contained the following criticism in regards to Bette's character Dixie: "She is perhaps nave and oblivious to what war is about and maybe even thinks it's just one big party and nobody really dies or suffers. By the end when she goes to Vietnam she is a vulgar, disgusting, embittered slob who harbors some anger that the GIs no longer swoon over her as they did a quarter of a century or so earlier. The GI's are of a different generation and she can't relate to them or why they have the attitude they do. She is perhaps also angry with herself for not being able to be enthused about performing for the fighting men of this war the way she was years ago. How does she end up like this?"

Huh??? Dixie was an angry, embittered woman because Eddie Sparks sold out on her uncle! Her volatile reaction to his betrayal begins the systematic annihilation of her career. She didn't want to go on tour with him and only did so because he talked her into it, "For the Boys"!

If anything, it is Eddie Sparks who is oblivious to the changes of the times during the Vietnam war and is unable to make the leap from the USO tours of the previous wars to this strange and confusing part of our history and it is Dixie who takes control of the out-of-hand situation in her inimitable style by getting the rowdy soldiers back in line and then not only sings them the quintessential song of the era, but caps her low-key performance with the peace sign! My god, SHE was the one who was truly in tune with the confusion these soldiers were experiencing!

So, I have to ask...did we see the same movie?

disappointing

[Ralpho · 6/10 · 6 July 2001]

I wouldn't have bothered to watch this movie except (A) I read several positive viewer reviews on IMDb or Amazon, (B) I developed an appreciation for Bette Midler during the five episodes when her TV show was good and (C) I caught 15 minutes of "For the Boys" on broadcast TV and enjoyed what I saw.

Having seen the whole movie now I gave it a 6. This is not the first movie to mix uplifting with depressing, funny with serious, in an attempt to mirror real life. But the movie doesn't pull it off well. When Bette's character saw her son die in Vietnam I found it melodramatic and contrived rather than moving. An astute viewer would know the kid was going to die anyway, as Bette's character telegraphed it in a prior scene.

The ending was incredible in the sense that it defied credibility and put a happy ending on a movie that had been working toward the opposite outcome for two hours.

The Eddie Sparks character was underdeveloped in the sense that we never saw why he was such a popular entertainer. Although the audience was supposed to find that Eddie's good qualities balanced his boorishness and infidelity, James Caan didn't pull it off.

Still, I enjoyed the first 40 minutes of the movie. The scene when Bette performs for the first time on the USO tour is terrific. And George Segal is good as Uncle Art.

You might want to stop the tape after Bette leaves the stage at the bomber base, though.

Midler sings, Caan flounces, all For the Boys

[tex-42 · 5/10 · 3 December 2007]

For the Boys is a movie that isn't sure what it wants to be. We have the clichéd showbiz biopic told in typical flashback following two people who don't seem to really like each other over fifty years set to the backdrops of World War II through Vietnam. We also have a look at the Red Scare, followed by the partners inevitable break up and reunion. In between, you have Bette Midler belting out some wonderful songs and James Caan standing there looking generally annoyed.

This movie essentially sinks under the lack of chemistry between Caan and Midler, and their lack of believability as a comic duo. They play a variety act where only Midler seems to have any talent, despite the fact that Caan is supposed to be the big name of the group. When Midler isn't singing, she and Caan fight, yell and bicker. It isn't particularly fun or memorable. The movie gradually becomes very anti-war as well, depicting American soldiers in Vietnam as coarse and vulgar.

Fans of Midler will like this movie just to hear her sing, and the movie lifts during those parts, only to sink again once things turn back to the drama.

Flawed masterpiece

[Jamie-58 · 9/10 · 5 August 1999]

Every so often a film comes along that is misunderstood by critics and ignored by the public, but is subsequently rediscovered and reappraised. I sincerely hope that "For the Boys" will join those ranks. It is an uncommonly sincere, insightful and touching film, and the only things to be held against it amount to quibbles. True, the old age make up is dreadful, and the last five minutes seriously weaken the impact of the film, but the sum total is moving and perceptive.

Bette Midler, giving the performance of her career to date, was robbed of the Oscar in my opinion. It is a brave and sincere effort on her part, and such a pity that it was not met with greater recognition. James Caan plays the shallow, slightly dim Eddie Sparks almost too well. There are times when he truly frightened me. The performances on the whole are restrained; when the occasion for histrionics comes, both stars rise to it.

Thoroughly recommended. I sincerely hope this film finds its audience one day.

For the Boys is one of Bette Midler's underated works

[tavm · 7/10 · 16 April 2018]

For quite a few years, Bette Midler-who had originally wowed audiences with her singing and joking on stage before Johnny Carson got her national exposure on TV-was in hit movie after hit movie. So she formed her own production company of which the first hit from that was Beaches. This one she really wanted to make as it cast her as a singer-comedienne paired with a hot comic during World War II. James Caan played that comic who seemed partially based on Bob Hope. The Devine Miss M's character also had a husband who's a soldier and a son who became one during Vietnam. I'll stop there and just say there's both comedy and drama and plenty of singing from Miss M. She does her best with the material which is overwrought on some places. Mr. Caan isn't bad, either. There's also a nice turn by George Segal as Miss Midler's uncle and Caan's head writer. It's too bad it didn't do well, box office-wise but of you're a Midler fan, For the Boys is highly recommended.

Overlong show biz drama is showcase for Bette Midler...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 28 May 2007]

FOR THE BOYS manages to be entertaining although there are a lot of things wrong with it--notably, the make-up job for Midler's aging process and some vulgarity in the lines she utters that seem like anachronisms given the time period begins with the '40s-era and women in show biz weren't quite that vulgar in front of U.S. troops.

JAMES CAAN does a snappy job of playing her self-absorbed, sexist song-and-dance husband who treats the various wars like a chance to strut his stuff before appreciative audiences, while Midler's character comes to understand the seriousness of war and what it does to America's finest young men, especially when her own son is killed during their act in Korea.

Midler is especially good in the early sequences where she gets to do pretty much the sort of brassy routines she started out doing in show business. Here she plays a U.S.O. singer who joins a World War II tour run by Caan. It's not exactly a case of love at first sight--in fact, it's a clash of two strong egos that remains pretty tumultuous throughout the film.

Patterned obviously after the careers of show biz troupers like Bob Hope and the sort of shows he put on for servicemen throughout the various wars, it's entertaining despite its length and owes most of its ability to hold interest due to Midler's self-confident central performance. She's a real trouper and steals just about every scene she's in. GEORGE SEGAL does a nice job as a writer mistreated by Caan who gets his revenge at an unusual Christmas party playing Santa.

Midler is at her best when singing a few songs in her own inimitable style but the film drags whenever it deals with the more serious aspects of the story. CHRISTOPHER RYDELL (the director Mark Rydell's son) is terribly miscast as Midler's son and furthermore, looks nothing like the two youngsters that play him as a young boy. He's inept in a key scene where he talks about the horrors of war.

It's an ambitious saga of show biz and war, but something about it seems awfully clichéd and artificial no matter how artfully director Mark Rydell has directed certain scenes.

Summing up: A must for Midler fans and James Caan is good too as the aging scoundrel.

Bett and James have really put together magic

[superscooper31 · 30 October 2002]

The movie is based during two wars and the relationship between two USO singer. Midler and Caan do a wonderful job at entertaining and showing the colors of the characters. Although it can be very sappy at times, it still is a movie I think even men can enjoy. The soundtrack is quite a experience as well.

Indicative of 90's Period Pieces

[statuskuo · 6/10 · 16 March 2015]

Schmaltzy. Good schmaltz, but schmaltz nonetheless.

A very thin veiled look at the USO coupling of two diametrically different performers who struggle to work with one another thru war and the bitterness that entwines their lives through the decades.

I think both roles were mis-casted. Caan, while giving his best, still seemed...angry. That chip on his shoulder is more off putting than endearing, even during the predictable change of heart. And Bette, which also has a strong performance, seemed to play the young sex kitten as an older person, but as an older person attempt to play the sex kitten. What you end up with is a very uneven movie. You really want it be effective, but it just falls a tiny bit short of it.

Would I recommend on a slow night...yeah, it's interesting to watch. Since you get a sense some of these moments are taken straight from relationships as volatile as Ricky and Lucy, or Burns and Allen.

Long, overreaching nostalgic drama is only sporadically enjoyable...

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 23 November 2006]

Both brash and plastic, Mark Rydell's "For The Boys" isn't ever convincing, but with so much talent on-hand it is seldom dull. Playing the star-duo of a musical-comedy act which spans the decades, James Caan and Bette Midler have no chemistry together. Their bickering is contrived and mechanical, and their routines on stage don't soar with hilarity (everything about this union is heavily grounded, and the actors look unhappy throughout). Bette Midler is good when she's flying solo, and not being forced to be wacky. She has a lovely moment singing "In My Life" to a group of soldiers, but the scene is undermined by gunfire (a cue for director Rydell to make a ham-handed statement about the senselessness of war). Lackluster, overeager, and unsubtle, the picture has too much star-power to be lousy, is instead glossy, well-produced swill. ** from ****

2nd Best of Bette's Movies

[Texasrep · 8/10 · 26 January 2001]

Bette was magnificent in "The Rose", in my opinion the best movie she's made. In a totally different personna she plays Dixie equally wonderfully. "For The Boys" is, for a reason I cannot discern, one of my all time favorite movies. I love the movie and Bette is as always, the best. If you adore Bette, and if you've never "For The Boys", rent it or buy it and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Head for the Trenches

[annmason1 · 1/10 · 1 February 2006]

This is a terrible movie that uses every trite sentimental piece of flotsom and jetsom that the irresponsible producers (Bette was one) could throw in.

Here is the stout hearted troop entertaining other stout hearted troops from which hubby emerges to be sung to by his sexy smart mouthed hoofer/singer/wife on stage. His last hurrah. Cut to widow in black weeds. Here, worst of all, is the god-awful wrung out slow motion machine gun death of a perfect top-of-his-West-Point-class son, trying to reach Mom who, incidentally, probably drew the enemy fire in the first place with her belted out songs and thudding around the stage.

It must be said in the son's favor, however, that he managed to get his hair stylishly cut (just a whisper of mousse)and deliver a moving anti-war speech to his slack jawed mom before biting the dust (dust he wouldn't have bit if he had the sense to come in out of the flack). By the way, didn't anyone casting this turkey realize that the son's bone structure and genetic characteristics would not have completely altered over the years from childhood? I think the adult son actor is hunky, but he must have been a Walk In for the other kid.

It is deeply offensive to portray any young man dying the way this movie does. It is vicious and unnecessary, given the countless thousands of non-chic snipped young men who died in Vietnam. And, let's just say it, it is an insult to West Point. I mean, really, if they can't even teach their "point man" to keep his damn head down under fire, we might as well turn the place into a day care center.

However, all that said, I would definitely recommend you see this movie. Bette in a rubber ducky suit is worth the price. Why is it that special effects people can give us incredible illusions like Star Wars, and can't make one middle aged Jewish woman believable as a dottering old crone? Just as well, it's hilarious to watch her waddle. When I saw Old Bette in that purple Balenciaga ballgown, I reflexively looked for the tie down rope.

I can't bear to share my thoughts about the tear jerking (from laughter) final scene in this flick. Let's just say that "For the Boys" should be in a boxed set with the remake of "Lost Horizon".

Best of Bette

[Brandon Hall · 10/10 · 19 November 2001]

This is my second favorite Bette Midler movie, the first of course being Isn't She Great. I really like this movie. The plotline deals with two USO singers (Bette Midler, James Caan)who entertain the troops during WW2. They are so popular that years later they are called back to do a reunion, in which they are being honored, to perform for a new generation. This is not a film for the whole family. It's a war movie, but it's not all killing, it has very sensitive subject matters in it... such as the death of Dixie Leanord's (Bette Midler) husband and son. If you wanted to be entertained 2 hours and 20 minutes this is the film to see. This is on my top 10 favorite movies list, and if you see it, it might be on yours too. A well earned 10/10!

Nothing To Write Home About

[gftbiloxi · 4/10 · 29 March 2005]

Seemingly suggested by a combination of Bob Hope's legendary USO tours and the toxic relationship that sometimes develops between comedy team partners (with the likes of Martin and Lewis a case in point), FOR THE BOYS gives us the story of Dixie Leonard (Midler), a rough and tough singer with a naughty sense of humor, and Eddie Sparks (James Caan), a secretly sexist comic. When the two meet on a World War II USO tour, it's loathing at first sight--but their audiences adore the combination. Trouble is, you can't imagine why. Both Midler and Caan are expert performers, but they have remarkably little on-screen chemistry, and although they score points individually they never quite seem to be working in tandem. To make matters worse, while the dialogue is often witty, the plot is leaden, and it promptly goes off into a host of predictable directions as it drags its characters from World War II to Vietnam in order to make a series of well-intended but extremely obvious and over-worked comments about changing times and the wastefulness of war.

The supporting cast is strong, but like the leads they seem to be pulling in different directions throughout the film, and when all is said and done this rather lengthy film feels quite a bit longer than it actually is. Midler's songs are the only real highlight, and the thing is indeed watchable... but only just. The DVD package isn't anything to write home about either, consisting of a handful of trailers and television spots. For hardcore Midler fans only.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Transformation of the Dixie Leonard charater is interesting.

[yenlo · 16 August 2001]

An interesting film that seemed to try and do one too many things. It wants to entertain, educate, provide nostalgia, laughs and do character studies. The most interesting character easily is Bette Midlers Dixie Leonard. During her first performance `For The Boys' she is a vibrant comical singing and dancing entertainer who throws her heart and soul into her show. She is perhaps naïve and oblivious to what war is about and maybe even thinks it's just one big party and nobody really dies or suffers. By the end when she goes to Vietnam she is a vulgar, disgusting, embittered slob who harbors some anger that the GIs no longer swoon over her as they did a quarter of a century or so earlier. The GI's are of a different generation and she can't relate to them or why they have the attitude they do. She is perhaps also angry with herself for not being able to be enthused about performing for the fighting men of this war the way she was years ago. How does she end up like this? Well that's what this picture is partly about. It's not a bad movie and didn't deserve the blasting the critics gave it.

repulsive!

[patricianolan999 · 1/10 · 22 October 2008]

I've enjoyed many of Bette's films, including "Big Business" and "The First Wives Club," but this movie is downright repulsive and distasteful! I'm glad they tried to expose the blacklisting of the 1950's for the heartbreaking nonsense that it was, and I sort of appreciated the basic anti-war theme. But the film itself is horrendous and the ending made me want to vomit! There is absolutely no warmth in these cardboard characters played by Midler and Caan. You can't help but hate them both! Every dumb and embarrassing stereotype is used to excess. Poorly written---it bounces between sitcom stupidity and soap opera histrionics--and definitely doesn't leave you with a "warm and fuzzy" feeling when it's finally over. If you watch this movie, you're wasting nearly two hours of your life! What more can I say.....it's awful. If Caan's character was supposed to be Bob Hope....well, he was definitely miscast in the role. This film ranks in stupidity with "Funny Lady," which also starred Caan.

Great movie

[diana-45 · 9/10 · 2 April 2005]

This is a very emotional movie with a great cast. I'm not a James Caan fan, but he was perfect for this. Slippery as an eel though the McCarthy era up until the end. In response to the comments by other reviewers regarding the politics including sexism I have to say that I found these things the best part of the movie even if they were not very deeply explored. False, facile patriotism exposed and 2 older people who actually learned something from their lives - that's pretty good. I am a big Bette Midler fan so that didn't hurt. She sang a lot of good songs. I especially loved, "For All We Know." I liked the contrasting points of view between a woman who lost her husband and son and the man who really really did not seem to have any principals. The Mc Carthy era was depicted as a "scoundrel time" to use Lillian Hellman's phrase. George Segals speech at the Christmas Party after he was fired could have been stronger, but it was good.

Great potential!!

[Trystan13 · 5/10 · 16 May 2020]

So under served by art direction and tacky effects which showed onscreen Should have been a much smaller scale film