SummaryA sheltered young high society woman joins the United States Army on a whim and finds herself in a more difficult situation than she ever expected.
Directed By:Howard Zieff
Written By:Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer, Harvey Miller
Private Benjamin
Metascore
Mixed or Average
59
User score
Generally Favorable
6.1
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
44% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
56% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
75
Private Benjamin is refreshing and fun. Goldie Hawn, who is a true comic actress, makes an original, appealing character out of Judy Benjamin, and so the movie feels alive, not just an exercise in gags and situations.
70
The script goes from one formula to the next, and it reworks the pranks of generations of male service comedies, but the director, Howard Zieff, refurbishes the stale material with smart small touches, and Goldie Hawn has such infectious frothy charm that she manages to get laughs out of ancient routines about a tenderfoot going through the rigors of basic training.
70
Mr. Zieff demonstrates great skill in keeping the gags aloft and in finding new ways by which to free the laughs trapped inside old routines about latrine duty, war games, forced marches and calisthenics. [10 Oct 1980, p.C6]
60
This is arguably although unfortunately Goldie Hawn's most memorable role. For while she embodies the character perfectly and when the jokes are funny they are hilarious, sadly there just isn't enough to keep the film going and it begins to run out of steam half way through, with an attempt at a deeper meaning ruining the film.
50
Hawn makes the most of the script, written by Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer, and Harvey Miller, providing many funny moments in her performance.
40
Private Benjamin seems coarse, sluggish and interminable as a comedy scenario.
40
Another depressing example of the big-screen gag-string sitcom, it turns exclusively on a plot that grew from a concept that developed from an idea that somebody should never have had - Goldie Hawn joins the army.
User score
Generally Favorable
52% Positive
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
38% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
10% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Aug 22, 2021
4
"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 The other 50-51% runs on an outdated level of comedy that pokes fun at stereotypical blondes.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.
Feb 2, 2025
2
Oh c’est la jolie Goldie qui se la joue (encore) midinette et qui s’engage dans l’armée (you’re in the army… now !) après une sévère déconvenue avec son (second) mari ! il y a donc un côté indéniablement féministe certes (bien des années avant… G.I. Jane !) mais aussi et surtout les gags vus et revus des nanas… dans l’armée.
C’est évidemment sans surprise même si ça peut rester sympathique et faire sourire (parfois) ici et là mais c’est surtout idiot les trois quarts du temps avec bien des poncifs de l’humour potache habituel (ça ressemble -presque- à nos débiles congénitaux de cons de « bidasses » à nous, les dégénérés des années 70 ! enfin, presque…).
Oui, Goldie est toujours mignonne (y compris à 35 balais ici) mais ne peut sauver à elle seule un film qui s’enferre dans la naïveté, la stupidité et la niaiserie du déjà vu et revu, des atermoiements d’éternelles bécasses en lutte avec le vilain patriarcat décadent etc, etc… surtout qu’on s’emmerde vraiment un peu trop là-dedans, en dehors de toute revendication **** typique bien entendu !
