User reviews

I must say I'm a little surprised this movie did not scoring higher with the IMDb readers. I really expected it to be marked higher. While the movie is a comedy I would not say it is hysterically funny, so perhaps that is why the score is not higher. Maybe people felt it should have been funnier. I don't know.

Regardless, this movie is very well done and funny. Not funny as in a bust your gut kind of way - but funny enough to make you smile and laugh most of the time. It has a few serious moments that tie it into the reality of war and living in the armed forced. Although it is period sensitive the writers did well to make it applicable even years later.

The acting is excellent, and Walken is brilliant as the complex Sgt. in charge of the young troops. I'm not sure Walken was ever better in a role, he is just pure genius.

The rest of the cast is wonderful as well, from top to bottom you end up liking the cast more and more as the movie unfolds. And in the end it is impossible to say anyone was miscast or uncomfortable.

I would say if you have not seen this movie, you should because it is a classic.

It seems strange to say this about a movie that has very few moments of high drama and virtually no moments of great excitement, but "Biloxi Blues" has a strangely compelling quality to it. Once you begin to watch, you'll stay with this through to the end. Director Mike Nichols does an excellent job of bringing the viewer into the lives of the disparate group of young men who find themselves suddenly soldiers in 1945, facing the prospect of being sent to the Pacific to fight and quite possibly die for their country. From the very beginning, we want to know about these men: who they are, what makes them tick, and, most important - what's going to happen to them?

There are several fine performances in this movie. Matthew Broderick is excellent (he seems to have a knack for military roles, as in both this and "Glory") as Private Eugene Jerome, a young, idealistic Jewish teenager, just out of high school, who dreams of being a writer rather than a soldier. Much of the movie is seen through his eyes as we see him come of age in many different ways. There's great humour involved as he loses his virginity with the understanding prostitute Rowena (Park Overall). Eugene is simply a likable young man who we enjoy watching grow up. Corey Parker put on a strong performance in a supporting role as Private Albert Epstein, who challenges military authority from Day 1. Another scene of brief humour is when Epstein presents a note from his doctor in New York, asking that he be excused from having to eat army food. Also offering a strong performance is Christopher Walken as the slightly off-balance Sargeant Toomey, who drives his platoon relentlessly.

If you're looking for a classic war movie, you'll want to avoid this. But if you're interested in a story about genuine people, give it a try. I enjoyed this movie very much, and would rate it as a 7/10.

Well I'm disappointed. :-( This film deserves much more than a 6.6 rating! If you watch Brighton Beach Memoires you will love this film. Personally the 1st film was better but maybe because I could relate to a younger Jerome. But this film, oh yes! Christopher Walken you are my GOD! He is so funny in this film in my view! The way he makes the wise-cracking Jerome (Broderick) and fellow NY boy Epstein (Corey) is great. Ok he is a nut but that is Walken- he would be the worst Army officer I would want! Great film- the scene with the 'escort' is great! "You're not breathing! Breathe!" Unbelievable! It is also heart-warming and I love it! Overall I must give it a 8.5/10. Give it a try dont let the 6.6 rating fool you! HO NO!

I always thought 1988 was one of the best years at the cinema (together with 1984, 1990/1991 and 2000).

I've seen this movie several times before, but not in a very long time. It's just as good as I remembered, perhaps even more. Excellent semi- autobiography comedy/drama about recruits in boot camp during WWII. Excellent writing by Neil Simon based on his play. Excellent cast - Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken and many unknown others, all perfect in their roles, even the supporting cast in tiny roles (the girl playing the hooker and Penelope Ann Miller who is damn cute). Good production and good direction by Mike Nichols.

Like GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, this is a great example of taking a play and making it into a GOOD cinematic presentation. The writing has a perfect combination of comedy and drama and all the characters are well defined and interesting - not like in many others movies in which the supporting characters blend with each other.

I just realized that the play and the Eugene Morris Jerome character are part of a semi-biography trilogy by Neil Simon. Corey Parker, who plays Arnold Epstein "the intellectual Jew" to perfection, also played Eugene (Matthew Broderick's character) in a later TV production, Broadway BOUND (1992) with Jonathan Silverman who himself played Eugene in BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS (1986). And to close the loop, Matthew Broderick played in BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS on Broadway.

I give 7.5/10 for the first half and 7/10 for the second half.

The year is 1945. Playwright Neil Simon's protagonist "Eugene Morris Jerome" (Matthew Broderick), from "Brighton Beach Memoirs" (1986), is off to join the U.S. Army. First, Mr. Broderick must complete ten weeks of basic training in Biloxi, Mississippi, with psychotic drill sergeant Christopher Walken (as Merwin J. Toomey). Broderick must also learn how to cope and bond with a diverse cast of fellow recruits. They philosophize about life, and fantasize about sex. Broderick's goals are to lose his virginity and fall in love, before shipping off to risk his life…

This is one of Broderick's best roles (he played it successfully on Broadway); and, although he performs it very well, it really isn't the best written part in this comedy-drama (which is part of a Neil Simon trilogy). Broderick has a great dramatic scene with Mr. Walden, near the end of the film; he does his best with an only mildly amusing "loss of innocence" scene, with well-dressed prostitute Park Overall (as Rowena). The best-written role goes to Corey Parker (as Arnold B. Epstein); forsaking some end note about the future of Michael Dolan's "Hennesey" character.

Mr. Simon's written words rise above the overall ordinary direction given the production; he has some very keen, and sometimes subtle, observations about life and love. Note that, upon first viewing, the characters are far more interesting than they initially appear. "Biloxi Blues" is a wistful tribute to the different people circumstances force us to relate to, after leaving home; how they inspire our lives, and become an essential part of our being.

******* Biloxi Blues (3/25/88) Mike Nichols ~ Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken, Corey Parker, Matt Mulhern

Coming right off the heels of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, I expected Matthew Broderick to, once again, play the part of a charming rogue in Biloxi Blues. In fact, I remember seeing the poster for this movie as a kid and thinking it would be like Ferris Bueller in the Army. It's not. It's a much more serious story and features a much more subdued performance by Broderick. I don't know. Perhaps it plays better on stage as a Neil Simon play, but as I was watching it on the screen, it felt like a standard-issue boot camp movie. This film is likeable enough, but overall I felt a little let down by Biloxi Blues.

Biloxi Blues is a wonderful character comedy with strong dramatic scenes as well. Eugene Jerome (Matthew Broderick) is an anti-hero, who is typically concerned with making wisecracks, rebelling against the rigid drill Sergeant (Christopher Walken), and talking about wanting to become a writer. Similar to the dark pathos of characters in Catch-22, Biloxi Blues exposes men in the service who do not want to be there, who are incompetent, and basically as far from battlefield heroism as you can imagine. Mike Nichols directs, and his comedic and dramatic pace is pitched perfectly for the film.

The movie has quotable lines throughout. But if you are looking for a typical war movie, this is not for you. There are no heros, at least in the conventional sense, as the story focuses upon the dusty boot camp in Biloxi, Mississippi. The story does deal with sharp internal conflicts, and the cultural topics addressed emerge strongly against the backdrop of one of the US's most traditional institutions: the military. Although it has been over fifteen years since the release of the movie, the conflict in the movie feels timely and relevant for today's world. It's the type of tight, well-written comedy that rarely exists in current cinema.

I think Neil Simon is a bit dated. Anchored with the typical New York Jewish fella's humor, I'm sure this played better as a play. In this Matthew Broderick plays a young Jewish G. I. who endures the southern boot camp a few weeks before he is to be shipped out. These are the memoire that will be included in the meta take on this movie itself.

Touted as a comedy, this lacks all things funny. There are no offbeat moments that don't seem forced. I think this is because director Mike Nichols has that thing where he thinks he's more clever than he is.

This movie is middle of the road plain. He can't even do anti-semitism correctly. In fact, the way he directs the actor who plays Epstein to have verbal affectations, you, as the audience almost wishes he were bullied more. Bad direction there.

So maybe Nichols isn't a comedic director. "Catch-22" isn't funny in the least. It's uncomfortable. Made worse that he thinks he's being funny. A failed attempt at absurd dark humor. Maybe it's the way he stages shots. It just doesn't work.

"Working Girl" is suppose to be a comedy, but he gives Joan Cusack the same "hey, this is a funny line" mug line the same he gives to everyone in this flick. This movie is way too obvious yet sort of meandering. There is no real story here. Only moments of bootcamp. At times you want it to really soar with drama and feeling. But, again marred by the words of Neil Simon or the poor direction of Nichols. There was so much to mine here. And, while it's great to not depict the Polish Americans in this movie as raging racists (I'm sure this was based on real people) it still makes for bland cinema.

Not sure how Neil Simon got so big. I think "The Goodbye Girl" was a solid Neil Simon flick...this one...not so much.

I guess I hate Mike Nichols movies.

This is a fantastic movie that you will want to watch again and again. The story is perfect, the cast is perfect and the acting is perfect. A coming of age story that combines young recruits from all different sections of life that have come together and now have to learn how to live with one another as they go through the rigors of boot camp. Neil Simon always knows how to combine that perfect blend of realism, a comic touch and something you can identify with into everything he writes and makes you feel so comfortable in his story because you feel you're in the story. He makes you want to be become a writer. This is what makes Neil Simon unique. If only every movie could be written this well. This is what great Hollywood film-making is all about.

I thought this movie was good, for the most part, although I found the scene where Eugene loses his virginity just plain painful and not particularly funny (hmmm... much like real life). But it was for the most part enjoyable and effective for what it is meant to be, a story about characters. Some people seem to be under the impression that this is a war movie, but it's not; like I said, it's a story about characters. And since this film, as well as Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound in the same series, are based quite a bit on Neil Simon's own life, as I understand it, it would be hard for this movie to be about the war since he never went, being only 18 at the time WWII ended.

If you are looking for a movie where tanks roll and people die, this movie is not for you. If you are looking for a movie where tanks roll, people die, and the characters are important (like Saving Private Ryan), this movie is also not going to fulfill all those requirements. If, however, you are looking for a coming-of-age, character-based film, then this movie is an excellent choice.

Neil Simon's ingratiating boot camp comedy suffers in translation from stage to screen from lackluster direction, murky photography, and a general air of tired over-familiarity. Except for some updated concessions to jaded viewers (raw profanity, some homosexual persecution, the inevitable encounter with a local prostitute) it might almost have been made during the same era it depicts (the latter days of World War II), with only Christopher Walken's sensitively rendered psychotic drill sergeant breaking free of its traditional stereotype. All the expected coming-of-age complications are trimmed and well-fitted, if needlessly reinforced by far too much voice-over narration by Simon's alter ego Matthew Broderick, and the undercurrents of rosy nostalgia are (thankfully) kept in check, making the film a pleasant excuse for idling away ninety minutes on a slow afternoon.

In one of the many looks at days gone by, Neil Simon's alter ego Eugene Morris Jerome (Matthew Broderick) and friends go down to Biloxi, Mississippi, in early 1945 for basic training. Once there, they have to cope with one bad-ass sergeant (Christopher Walken) and a status quo totally unlike the one in New York. But we also see how the experience turns Eugene into a very different person, partially due to his relationship with local babe Daisy (Penelope Ann Miller).

"Biloxi Blues", in my opinion, is far from Mike Nichols's best movie. I find it having strength in showing these young men's coming of age and wondering what to do with their future. But still, it's fun to see the environs of the WWII-era South. And I really liked Eugene's fake name when he met that one woman; I couldn't have come up with anything like that! Worth seeing, along with "Brighton Beach Memoirs".

When Matthew Broderick played Ferris Bueller, who ever would have guessed that he would later play the guy - or the alter ego thereof - who wrote "The Odd Couple"?

Before PC military times, training was a little different, and Biloxi Blues is the tale of WWII training and everything that went with it. Broderick's role is serious for a change and Walken is his sergeant.

Boy, is this a tale of two movies, or what? First half is a fairly good service comedy, not as funny as the Abbot and Costello stuff the soldiers are watching but, still, a nice tone of serious matters being taken lightly, all presented in Simon's usual charming, if somewhat over done, Borscht Belt manner. No wonder it was a hit on Broadway.

But then comes the ol act three problem and Simon's solution is to change movies from a dark "Operation Mad Ball" to an even darker "A Few Good Men" as, literally out of nowhere, Chris Walken's amusingly tyrannical drill sergeant goes absolutely, full on section eight and takes the film down with him. His crackup scene, with the revolver held to Matthew Broderick's head and the sweat and the hollow eyed stare, is agonizingly and embarrassingly bad and eventually I had to use the fast forward to move it along. You would think that a very good, veteran director like Mike Nichols could have sensed this and found a way to soft peddle this melodrama and return us to the whimsicality of the first half. You would be wrong.

Bottom line: Line drive hitters should not swing for the fences. And Neil Simon should not try to be Spig Wead. C plus.

Plays are made by great and interesting dialog. At one extreme is of course Shakespeare who generally wrote dialog that no one (including Elizabethan era people) would use, but which sum up an idea exactly (which is why Shakespeare is so often quoted and misquoted.

On the other hand there is Neil Simon. It just sounds like people having ordinary every day conversations, but in his own way he achieves exactly what Shakespeare is trying to do (only the result is not worth quoting).

Biloxi Blues is based on his own experiences in Basic training during WWII. What makes this movie unique amongst war training movies is that he doesn't go to war. So the experience is taken out of context and seen in a true brutal light (a soldier feels a lot less differently about their drill Sargent when the bullets start flying and the training kicks in).

An interesting, insightful, tragic, amusing movie which is a little bit slow and probably best only for people who like a dialog driven movie.

To give you an example a dialog describing the way one soldier masturbates and ejaculates like he is launching a torpedo is followed by the statement that this is person he would most trust going into battle.

OK, we all have our favourite poignant movies right?....you know the type - the ones that hold you in rapture - time and again, because it speaks to you on a very personal level and effortlessly touches some part of your emotions that you keep hidden from the world - evoking deeply sad or blissfully happy memories from our own passage through life. Biloxi Blues is that movie for me.

Which of us do not carry emotional scars from; Our first time away from home. Our first time interacting with a group of strangers in a mutual climate. Our first sexual encounter. Our fist kiss. Our first love. Our first brush with authority. Our first glimpse at death.

Biloxi Blues is a movie that embraces many of the "rites of passage" that we all face in life and deals with them using comedy as a foil to gently explore them, without diminishing their poignancy. Neil Simon is peerless in this. The casting is faultless. The acting is immaculate. The humor is intelligent.

If you haven't seen this movie, do so. You can thank me later.

Eugene Jerome (Matthew Broderick) is a year out of high school and joining the Army in 1945. He is sent to basic training in Biloxi, Mississippi with various characters. There are the brutes like Wykowski, a brainiac Epstein, and the tough drill Sgt. Toomey (Christopher Walken). Jerome wants to write and has to survive this unstable collection of people.

The Neil Simon script is quirky and cute. It comes off as a little light weight when compared to all the other great military training movie. There are every stereotypes in the book. The protagonist Eugene is sarcastic smart mouth. Epstein is a super effeminate Jew. Every character is a 3 word descriptive cartoon. There is only so much that director Mike Nichols can do with this Neil Simon recollection of his wartime life.

A wonderfully entertaining film. Everything seems to be in it's place. The only thing that one could grab at as being off somewhat, are some of the Simon jokes/funnies, which tend to sound too dated, corny or ill fitted. One must take into consideration on that point that this is a film and a story of an earlier time. A period piece and a script from quite a few years ago. Because of some of the tried for laughs, it seems that none of the Simon plays as they stand or the adaptations for screen will stand the test of time. A bit of re working on the script/dialog would help immensely Even with that BIG flaw that sticks out like a sore thumb, this film is wonderful. One might refer to or call these imperfections in the dialog,New York City Corn. Being form New York City myself, perhaps it's just the way it plays to me, but I doubt it. Most of today's viewers would have the same problem with some of the lines.

The characters could not be more interesting or endearing. The scenes are right on track as one follows the other in perfect harmony. The acting and casting is superb with standouts being just about all of the main characters. Christopher Walken continues to take command. But it's also the great by play and perfect casting of his buddies of all religious persuasions that are just as marvelous. Terrific performances by Matt Mulhern, Corey Parker, Park Overall, and of course Matthew Broderick are all great. A perfectly cast movie I would say. Everyone was terrific but what stands out so nicely about this work is that we don't want the relationship that Simon creates between our beloved characters to ever end. There is always a Bully right? Matt Mulhern is cast as the lovable, honest, Bologna sandwich slamming cretin. Yet he is wonderful in the part he plays, and becomes my favorite. Then their is the enigmatic, always unearthly Christopher Walk en who endears himself to both the audience and to his boys that he makes into pretty good soldiers.

The interplay between the different characters is what makes this work so well. There really isn't a single one in the group that we don't end up liking, at least to some degree. I really think this is where Simon's genius lies, what makes his plays so popular, so likable. We like both Oscar and Felix (opposite personalities) in the Odd Couple, right? Well, despite mostly minor bickering some major which is predictable among a bunch of guys from mostly different backgrounds and religions, in Biloxi Blues, the guys end up liking each other. They even end up realizing that St Toomey is a good guy. They understand that he is raking them over the coals in order to save their lives if and when they are shipped over seas during WWII The adventure really doesn't leave much out. Matthew Broderick goes through all or most of the adventures that we would expect. I found myself easily fitting into the group as the same kinds of things happened to me as I was growing into manhood. Somehow they grow together, they move threw some of life's more difficult moments as young men. In the end, Simon's or should I say Sgt. Toomey's bunch makes it, and we love it. I kept thinking that they really didn't have a care in the world. It was of course, a time of great anxt and worry as the guys wondered what in the world would ever happen to them. However, I couldn't help but go along with Broderick at the end, when the war is over, when none of the guys is actually sent over seas to fight. He states to the affect that as he looks back (narrating in talk over), it was the best time of his life that he seemed to bond with every one of those guys.

I was surprised to find that there is no Sound Track available of any kind. Yet, the choice of songs, taken from the era, the WWII songs some refer to as a wonderful time for Romantic Tunes are perfectly placed throughout the film. I gave this movie a 10 despite the mentioned imperfections because it simply is one piece of great entertainment, and every time I decide to watch it again, it brings me home, home to the comfort of those great characters that I just love to watch and hear.

I'm on a quest to watch most Mike Nichols movies before I write about them for work (I really don't think I'll do all 20-ish; just most). Biloxi Blues isn't one of his more well-known movies by any means, and I only really discovered it by digging through his filmography. Maybe it's kind of underrated, or deserving of a little more appreciation, but at the same time, I'm not sure it's good enough that its relative obscurity feels like the biggest injustice or anything.

It's about a young man's experience while in Boot Camp towards the end of World War II, so one way to kind of summarize it is to say it's like the first half of Full Metal Jacket stretched into one movie (plus a little less intense and with a bit more conventional comedy). It's clear it's based on a play, and though some of it's witty, some of it also felt over-written, or like it was trying to be a bit too clever. Maybe Matthew Broderick just wasn't up to delivering all the voiceover lines; they were the main points where I started to question the writing.

But some of this is quite good, and voiceover aside, I don't think Broderick was bad here. Christopher Walken also gives a weird and interesting performance as the drill sergeant, and it was great to see him bring another energy to that kind of stock role; something completely different from R. Lee Ermy's iconic drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket, made just one year before Biolix Blues.

I guess those who really like the work of Mike Nichols or playwright Neil Simon might like this, but I think both men did better in their careers. The movie's solid, if a little clunky in places, but certainly quite watchable and engaging at its best. Curious, minor, kind of overlooked film, but definitely not the worst thing I've seen lately.

This seems to be more the copying and pasting of bits and pieces of basic training movies than a free standing and enjoyable film. Cliche and predictable scene, one after another, like a Frankenstein's monster made of the derialed corpse's of Stripes and Full Metal Jacket, but it spares is the imagery of R. Lee Ermey spinning in his grave.

The characters are as lifeless as cookies cut from the general issue character molds they come from. The racist, the bully, the intellectual, the fairy, the wise guy. All go about as much development and back story and arch as cookie dough thrown into the trash before it's been removed from it's mass produced packaging. One has been singled out with a bit of development only to be cut down, ripped from the film and never to be heard from again.

Once the dairy coma subsided, a result of spoiled cheesy humor, was gone I foolishly believed we had reached a message or theme. About the mistreatment of minorities, homosexuals in particular, by exploring and possibly redeaming a prejudged person. Nope. Just a side show to the circus.

Did we at least discuss racial tensions of the time by devoting more than a dry fart to a biracial character and witness the growth of men and triumph over ignorance and possibly even have speak a word to the topic of character over someone's skin color? Nope again. This was glossed over faster than you could crop dust your own pants.

Oh, I've got it. Maybe the film has one thing to say about leadership, or why we fought, or unquestionable following of orders and loyalty vs logic, truth, and intelligence. Wrong again. The sole disciplinary is later reduced to a loony and the smartest of the pack is a winny little know it all who's got enough folly to warrant a hold on the praise. We could have seen an interesting test of integry and character instead of the typical scene where the guy everyone hates takes the fall for a crime he didn't commit. Give me a break.

So much room to be something different. Such potential. It could have been a great movie with the cast it had. Might as well have had a cast on while going on that swamp hike that took place on "generic military movie swamp set #5". Maybe of they didn't waste time on the prostitute scene, which adds nothing to the film, or the scene with that girl he dates. You know that girl, what's her name. Sue? Carly? Rebecca? Maggie? I can't remember her during her 1 minute of screen time.

I also just want to add how awkward that prostitute scene was. Yuck. That fake dialogue and just how incredibly purposless the whole ordeal was. Why was this included. Is it to show his growth? His compromise of morals we never see? Maybe his instanious desire for adulthood maybe? I don't think anyone knew. Lazy sex scene perhaps? Your guess is as good as mine.

The few good nuggets are the jokes told by Sgt. Tummy. Too bad to get those nuggets you have to excovate through a mountain of refuse.

Would I watch this again? No. Would I recommend it to anyone? No. Would I give this movie as a gag gift? Yeah why not.

Well maybe I'd watch it if the alternative choice was to watch paint dry...and I had no paint to watch. This does bear well to fight off existential dread.