In the Army Now (1994)

How sad is this?

Crappy film

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Bones and Jack are two guys with very little going right in their lives. The two decide to join the Army as part of the water purification team, and eventually find themselves on the front lines in the conflict between countries of Chad and Libya. The two men, along with a few companions, have it upon themselves to save the day in combat, something they know nothing about....Another year, another Pauly Shore movie, and as i've said before, if you liked Encino/California man, and found him to be the funniest thing in the movie (which someone did, because they gave him a deal), there is something here to enjoy.Even though the context of the narrative has been done to death, two ne'er do wells join a responsible outfit, cause a bit of trouble, and then save the day (think STRIPES), you cannot help but warm to Shore, and he knows this.It's a pretty poor movie, but thanks to the stars energy, you cannot help but like the film for what it is, a showcase for Shore, and everyone else in this knows the fact.But it also showed that he wasn't going to be anything more than a one trick pony, and his shtick, wouldn't stick for much longer, but still, he was pretty big in the mid-nineties, and he'll never let you forget it..

In the Army Now reminds me a little of the Corey Haim/Corey Feldman film Last Resort. Both came out in the year 1994, and both have potential to be very enjoyable works of farce, they fail in taking themselves seriously. In In the Army Now and Last Resort the films have a few parts that are really funny, but then they are followed by dull and laughless jokes that don't go anywhere and make you want the film over as soon as possible. What a perfectly good waste of Shore and Dick's talent.My favorite work of Pauly Shore was in the 1996 film Bio-Dome. I don't think we'll ever get something as good as Pauly Shore's work in that film. The first half of In the Army Now is very entertaining, but the funniest stuff is in the electronic store where Shore and Dick work in the beginning. If that was made into a film it would be a Clerks style film which would be very impressive. Instead the film thinks it will be funny to ship them off, well, in the army. Now.The plot revolves around Bones Conway (Shore) and Jack Kaufman (Dick) who, after a matter of minutes, are fired from their job at an electronic store for wrecking a stack of TV sets. In an effort for quick money, Bones and Kaufman join The United States Army Reserves.The boys sign up for water purification as their field, and after passing the training, they meet a tomboyish woman named Christine Jones (Pretty) and a dentist named Fred Ostroff (Grier). The four nickname their group "the waterboys". What they do not realize is that Libya is attacking Chad, and Bones and Jack get called into duty. They now must survive out in the army, with their new group.I caught this on TV and thought "this may be good for a farce laugh." While I did laugh a few times, the jokes weren't original or clever for that matter. I still have three Pauly Shore films I need to watch (Encino Man, Adopted, and Jury Duty), and I hope at least one is better or surpasses Bio-Dome There has to be one.Andy Dick managed to squeeze some awkward, yet appropriate laughs out of this film which is surprising. I never really found Andy Dick too amusing, but this film taught me he isn't all bad. Thats pretty much all I learned from In the Army Now. That may be an accomplishment. I don't think anyone else learns a damn thing from a slapstick fest.Starring: Pauly Shore, Andy Dick, Lori Petty, David Alan Grier, and Brendan Fraser. Directed by: Daniel Petrie, Jr.

What must have started out as a one-liner: "Hey, let's put Pauly Shore in the Army!" -- turned into a full-fledged classic that will be as funny a century from now as it was when it was released. The humor is original, the stereotypes (and knocking them down a peg) are present in abundance, and Art LeFleur as the first Sargent could have squeaked out an Oscar nomination had the film starred anyone else. The dramatic elements are also stronger than generally recognized.The plot: Chad has chemical warheads pointed at US targets, and it's up to Pauly Shore (Bones), Andy Dick, Lori Petty, and the black guy from McHale's Navy to save the world, six weeks after they completed basic training for the Army Reserves. Need I say more? Watch it.

I am not a fan of Pauly Shore movies. I didn't like "Encino Man", I didn't like "Son-in-Law", and I didn't like "Jury Duty". I thought he was occasionally funny on MTV (he did one bit as Kennedy that had me rolling once), but I don't think he made the transition to movies well. He's made some real stinkers.Okay. That being said, I actually DID like this movie. I even liked Pauly Shore in it. And although it probably wasn't a good movie by any standards, it had some extremely funny parts, like the part where Shore dropped the grenade and threw the pin in basic training. The premise (Shore joins the army as a water treatment specialist thinking he'll never have to go to war, but...) was an engaging one, and the foursome at the center (Shore, Lori Petty, Andy Dick, and David Alan Grier) worked well together, and seemed to be having a good time. I especially liked David Alan Grier as the dentist who was afraid of everything, and Petty was appropriately hammy as the butch girl who couldn't wait to go to war.Overall, a decent movie, but a masterpiece by Pauly Shore movie standards.