I’ve never really liked Stripes. Never thought it was super funny, never found it all that entertaining; I just didn’t get the hype. As a matter of fact, I don’t really like most of these so-called comedy classics from the late 70s and early 80s. I’m sure that in their time, they may have felt very fresh and they were probably breaking new ground, but through my slightly older than this generation eyes they always looked dated and kind of lame. Despite this, I have kept hearing over and over again about how Stripes is one of the most hysterical films of all time, and I had admittedly not seen it since I was a little kid; so I decided to give it another whirl. I find my opinion mostly unchanged. I “got” the movie a little more from watching it as an adult. I was able to appreciate the stakes of guys like Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, and in effect guys like me, making the huge decision of signing their life away to the army. I can’t imagine signing that paper, and getting on that bus to go to basic training. So, watching a couple of liberal arts slackers get acclimated into a rigidly structured environment held a bit more interest for me now. But I still don’t think it’s very funny. Bill Murray gets off a couple of good lines, but that’s about it. Mostly he’s just wandering through the film acting obnoxious. That might have been pretty subversive in 1981, but his character just looks like an immature child from where I’m sitting now. And I fail to see where any of the other cast members were even trying to be funny. Where are all the jokes? OR, in lieu of gags, where is all of the character based interaction that I’m supposed to be chuckling at? Is it hilarious because Bill Murray is a wise ass and the drill sergeant is a tight ass?Not for me. The first couple acts of the film, where they join up and train for the army, I thought added up to an enjoyable enough little romp. But the third act really falls apart into boring nonsense. And I still really don’t get where all of the funniest movie ever hype comes from. I guess I’ll just explain it away as Murray’s career getting looked at through rose colored glasses so I can put these early 80s comedies to bed and move on.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Short Round: Stripes (1981) ***/*****
I’ve never really liked Stripes. Never thought it was super funny, never found it all that entertaining; I just didn’t get the hype. As a matter of fact, I don’t really like most of these so-called comedy classics from the late 70s and early 80s. I’m sure that in their time, they may have felt very fresh and they were probably breaking new ground, but through my slightly older than this generation eyes they always looked dated and kind of lame. Despite this, I have kept hearing over and over again about how Stripes is one of the most hysterical films of all time, and I had admittedly not seen it since I was a little kid; so I decided to give it another whirl. I find my opinion mostly unchanged. I “got” the movie a little more from watching it as an adult. I was able to appreciate the stakes of guys like Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, and in effect guys like me, making the huge decision of signing their life away to the army. I can’t imagine signing that paper, and getting on that bus to go to basic training. So, watching a couple of liberal arts slackers get acclimated into a rigidly structured environment held a bit more interest for me now. But I still don’t think it’s very funny. Bill Murray gets off a couple of good lines, but that’s about it. Mostly he’s just wandering through the film acting obnoxious. That might have been pretty subversive in 1981, but his character just looks like an immature child from where I’m sitting now. And I fail to see where any of the other cast members were even trying to be funny. Where are all the jokes? OR, in lieu of gags, where is all of the character based interaction that I’m supposed to be chuckling at? Is it hilarious because Bill Murray is a wise ass and the drill sergeant is a tight ass?Not for me. The first couple acts of the film, where they join up and train for the army, I thought added up to an enjoyable enough little romp. But the third act really falls apart into boring nonsense. And I still really don’t get where all of the funniest movie ever hype comes from. I guess I’ll just explain it away as Murray’s career getting looked at through rose colored glasses so I can put these early 80s comedies to bed and move on.
