A long time ago, before I became that self-proclaimed movie lover whose favorite actors were Al Pacino and Robert De Niro and put "The Godfather" on the highest pedestal of the cinematic Pantheon... there were names I was familiar with because they used to appear in movies I could watch as a kid: Eddie Murphy, Dudley Moore, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy and among them was Matthew Broderick. In the span of four months, I had seen "The Freshman", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "Project X" and "Biloxi Blues" so the cute actor with a boyish look was a familiar face.
And I remember my young self, between 10 and 11, watching alone that "Biloxi Blues" film, I remember the "Ho" scene made me burst out laughing, the way Sergent Toomey kept picking on Eugene and Epstein, in fact, the whole lighthearted atmosphere of the film, I enjoyed every bit of it. And a few months later, I would watch "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and I noticed that it was also about a kid named Eugene Morris Jerome, I suspected it wasn't a coincidence and that was enough to stick to my memory.
I saw the film almost a decade later and again in my student days, where many of us were too far from their families and so we spent weekends together in the deserted campus. I was the guy who showed movies and I remember the smile the film drew in my friends' faces. They enjoyed it for the same reasons: nothing much happened but what happened was fun, memorable and enjoyable.
And so in these depressing confinement days, I saw it again and after that, I felt the urge to read Roger Ebert's review, boy, was he disappointed! And was I disappointed by his disappointment!
The late critic blamed the film for being your basic trainings movie with the obligatory archetypes: the big bully, his follower, the nerdy guy and the intellectual who happens to be the narrator (both of the same religious obedience), the nice guy, the dirty conversations and arguments in the dorm, the loony drill sergeant (though he admitted Walken played him in a more low-key manner), the loss of virginity episode, the little romance and so forth. He complained that the film kept on lingering on some conviction the film didn't need further action on the basis that it was based on Neil Simon's memoirs, and that even the most intense scene (the climax) was ruined by its outcome.
Reading this review, I was tempted to change my initial feelings, to reconsider my thoughts. I was young when I first saw it, I hadn't seen many classics when I showed it to my buddies, maybe I was letting the nostalgic value clouding my opinion. And so I thought of giving a 6 or 7 to Mike Nichols' adaptation, conceding that nothing much happens, that the bullies are only good at being upset at Eugene's involuntary shenigans, that Eugene is so close to the viewers that he looks like a stranger in that platoon, that the comedy kind of undermines the credibility of the film. And maybe that there's something that looks too stagey or phony in it.
But then I remembered that quote from Arnold Epstein, who's quite a fascinating character once you get to know him, I can quote it by heart because it stuck to me ever since the second viewing: "once you start compromising your thoughts, you're a candidate for mediocrity". And that's about it.
I can't change my mind because I still enjoy the film, I love its funny moments and it does have funny moments. As Tooney, Walken is a geyser of one-liners such as the "Cucaracha" bit and the "you'll need three promotions to be an....". Recently I read a few reviews of Ferrara's movies and I said that Walken had that genuine aura where you never knew whether you should smile back at him and shake his hands or just run away, and here in "Biloxi Blues", he plays his usual creepy self but in total line with the comedic requirements of the role. A Golden Globe worthy performance. Yes, he's that good.
Broderick kind of plays his usual bewildered kid as in "The Freshman" though in a more cynical way, he's a young New Yorker a little puzzled by the on-goings beside him and whose passiveness fits his status as the man who sees and writes, as if he foreshadowed his destiny as a behind-the-scene man. So all naturally, his thunder is stolen by all the other privates, on the top of them Corey Parker as Epstein (it's interesting that he's the one at the top in the train, though for biological malfunctions).
This is not a great film but good enough and with a fine balance of serious and comedic moments and a few gentle interactions with Penelop Ann Miller, her chemistry with Broderick isn't too forced and it just occurred to me that they were together again in "The Freshman" (there's even Jeffrey "Ed Rooney" Jones in the film).
So I stick to my guns and reinforce my love for "Biloxi Blues", certainly less ambitious than "Saving Private Ryan" but an interesting way to show us that the Greatest Generation were made of people as silly and vulnerable and obsessed by sex than us, which is subtly pinpointed in the final monologue where Eugene says he cherishes these moments because they were all young and that's all that mattered.
Maybe I cherish the film for the same reason, there's something about it that takes me back to a time where we could enjoy a film that didn't have to rely on too much vulgarity or crazy twists to entertain.
I'm puzzled that Ebert didn't like it and that he wasn't moved one second by the last voice-over narration. Well, I don't know. Maybe he was in a bad day. Or maybe he was right. But a candidate for mediocrity, I won't be!
And I remember my young self, between 10 and 11, watching alone that "Biloxi Blues" film, I remember the "Ho" scene made me burst out laughing, the way Sergent Toomey kept picking on Eugene and Epstein, in fact, the whole lighthearted atmosphere of the film, I enjoyed every bit of it. And a few months later, I would watch "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and I noticed that it was also about a kid named Eugene Morris Jerome, I suspected it wasn't a coincidence and that was enough to stick to my memory.
I saw the film almost a decade later and again in my student days, where many of us were too far from their families and so we spent weekends together in the deserted campus. I was the guy who showed movies and I remember the smile the film drew in my friends' faces. They enjoyed it for the same reasons: nothing much happened but what happened was fun, memorable and enjoyable.
And so in these depressing confinement days, I saw it again and after that, I felt the urge to read Roger Ebert's review, boy, was he disappointed! And was I disappointed by his disappointment!
The late critic blamed the film for being your basic trainings movie with the obligatory archetypes: the big bully, his follower, the nerdy guy and the intellectual who happens to be the narrator (both of the same religious obedience), the nice guy, the dirty conversations and arguments in the dorm, the loony drill sergeant (though he admitted Walken played him in a more low-key manner), the loss of virginity episode, the little romance and so forth. He complained that the film kept on lingering on some conviction the film didn't need further action on the basis that it was based on Neil Simon's memoirs, and that even the most intense scene (the climax) was ruined by its outcome.
Reading this review, I was tempted to change my initial feelings, to reconsider my thoughts. I was young when I first saw it, I hadn't seen many classics when I showed it to my buddies, maybe I was letting the nostalgic value clouding my opinion. And so I thought of giving a 6 or 7 to Mike Nichols' adaptation, conceding that nothing much happens, that the bullies are only good at being upset at Eugene's involuntary shenigans, that Eugene is so close to the viewers that he looks like a stranger in that platoon, that the comedy kind of undermines the credibility of the film. And maybe that there's something that looks too stagey or phony in it.
But then I remembered that quote from Arnold Epstein, who's quite a fascinating character once you get to know him, I can quote it by heart because it stuck to me ever since the second viewing: "once you start compromising your thoughts, you're a candidate for mediocrity". And that's about it.
I can't change my mind because I still enjoy the film, I love its funny moments and it does have funny moments. As Tooney, Walken is a geyser of one-liners such as the "Cucaracha" bit and the "you'll need three promotions to be an....". Recently I read a few reviews of Ferrara's movies and I said that Walken had that genuine aura where you never knew whether you should smile back at him and shake his hands or just run away, and here in "Biloxi Blues", he plays his usual creepy self but in total line with the comedic requirements of the role. A Golden Globe worthy performance. Yes, he's that good.
Broderick kind of plays his usual bewildered kid as in "The Freshman" though in a more cynical way, he's a young New Yorker a little puzzled by the on-goings beside him and whose passiveness fits his status as the man who sees and writes, as if he foreshadowed his destiny as a behind-the-scene man. So all naturally, his thunder is stolen by all the other privates, on the top of them Corey Parker as Epstein (it's interesting that he's the one at the top in the train, though for biological malfunctions).
This is not a great film but good enough and with a fine balance of serious and comedic moments and a few gentle interactions with Penelop Ann Miller, her chemistry with Broderick isn't too forced and it just occurred to me that they were together again in "The Freshman" (there's even Jeffrey "Ed Rooney" Jones in the film).
So I stick to my guns and reinforce my love for "Biloxi Blues", certainly less ambitious than "Saving Private Ryan" but an interesting way to show us that the Greatest Generation were made of people as silly and vulnerable and obsessed by sex than us, which is subtly pinpointed in the final monologue where Eugene says he cherishes these moments because they were all young and that's all that mattered.
Maybe I cherish the film for the same reason, there's something about it that takes me back to a time where we could enjoy a film that didn't have to rely on too much vulgarity or crazy twists to entertain.
I'm puzzled that Ebert didn't like it and that he wasn't moved one second by the last voice-over narration. Well, I don't know. Maybe he was in a bad day. Or maybe he was right. But a candidate for mediocrity, I won't be!