Let me just preface – I did grow up on some comedies starring Bill Murray, so I absolutely adore the guy. Ghostbusters is one of my favorite comedies, and I also like (I’m taking a cover while writing this) Ghostbusters II – both of these movies I love to this day. That’s why I went into Stripes expecting a good time.

What I got was a movie that’s split into thirds – first one was alright, second was pretty funny and the third one totally unnecessary.

The first part of the movie to me was anything prior our protagonists (Bill Murray and Harold Ramis) join the army, and unlike one of the later episodes of Family Guy, I didn’t mind it and I didn’t think it dragged on (the joke in question was about a movie you remember fondly, but it’s now dragging on). We’ve established characters, what are they about and I wish more newer comedies would take some time to do this and not feel the need for the audience to laugh every 10 seconds with some attempt at humour.

The second part was them joining the Army, going through the training and clashing with Sergeant Hulka. I thought it was well paced, some funny scenes, but nothing where you would properly burst into laughter, but enjoyable nonetheless.

The third part was after our heroes finish the training and then being shipped to Italy, where just so it happens, they end up in Czechoslovakia (hey, that’s where I’m from, except it’s been Czech Republic and NO, I refuse to call it Czechia) where there is the obligatory “action scene”. This part was totally pointless, didn’t really add too much to the story except additional 30 minutes, where at the end the movie felt like a chore.

Had the movie finished with some funny montage of them doing random/hero stuff right after the training session, my rating would’ve been better, but it didn’t. I also wonder if I were to grow up watching this movie the same way I grew up watching the two Ghostbusters movies, how would my rating be affected, but we will never know that now.

When I wrote “comedy that didn’t age well”, I didn’t mean the scene in a strip-club where John Candy is wrestling at some point 5 different women, or the fact John Larroquette was spying on some showering women with binoculars, because that wouldn’t be fair. Yes, by today’s standards, it is 100% wrong, but back in the 80’s nobody cared. I am one of those people that judges the film based on its merits and won’t pretend that had I seen this film in 1981, when the movie was released, I’d have been “woke” enough to say that’s wrong, no I probably wouldn’t. This is not me defending the movie, but the fact of the matter is, nobody paid any attention to this, and not just in this movie (this one is actually tame by different 1980’s movie standards).

What I meant by “didn’t age well” was the pacing, and most of the jokes – as they are harmless jokes, where today, we are used to something totally different, so they won’t amuse you as much. You could say “hey, but that’s judging the film based on today’s standards, you just said you don’t do that!” but it’s not really, because if movie won’t make you laugh where it’s supposed to, it doesn’t matter whether the movie is from 1981, or 2001.

Just to be clear, most of my favourite comedies are from the 80’s and 90’s (already mentioned Ghostbusters, Coming to America, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop series etc.) and these have never failed to make me laugh.

If you want an army comedy from the 80’s, might I recommend often overlooked Private Benjamin from 1980?

That’s all for this one, what did you think? Was I harsh? Do you adore this movie? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Elizabethtown is a strange movie. It’s almost 2 hours long, it’s directed by Cameron Crowe, so you know he was trying for something more, it’s got really decent cast and Crowe’s signature, great music selection.

If I was to rate this movie based on the soundtrack alone, it’d have been almost a perfect movie, there is and never was a question about Crowe’s music taste. But overall I’ve expected more.

First let me start with the cast – some of the biggest names are here, Orlando Bloom did a decent job, Kirsten Dunst did well with what she was “allowed” to do (because of the trivia section on IMDb I’ve learned this performance coined the term “The Manic Pixie Dream Girl” and honestly yeah, can see why) as she doesn’t really have an agenda of her own, except her mysterious boyfriend “Ben” who I believe never existed, as that was just Crowe’s justification of her having some “character”. If it wasn’t for the funeral scene, Susan Sarandon would have been wasted in this movie too, but at least she had that (and it was highlight of this movie).

Bit of a side rant, as this is not just Elizabethtown‘s issue, but Jesus-jumping-Christ, give Judy Greer something to do in movies! I always thought she’s seriously underutilized in almost any major movie, and even in this one she doesn’t really contribute to much. Honestly, if her character was cut from the movie, it would literally not change the movie at all.

The main issue I have this with movie as some of the “feel-good” moments felt cheap/fake. I don’t know why, but there was something about the majority of the movie where I knew how was I supposed to be feeling, but I never “gave in” as something felt off. Maybe it was the screenplay, maybe lack of character development, maybe slightly more interesting story…?

As I’ve mentioned before, the emotional highlight of this film was the funeral scene, where Susan takes the microphone and starts talking about her deceased husband. Don’t want to spoil anything further, but the entirety of the scene was one of the few ones that felt real.

The rest of it is as average as it gets. And that’s why I believe it’s eventually a failure, as a movie with that kind of “pedigree” should’ve been better than just an average movie with one really great scene. Specially given the fact the whole movie is about how you should shoot for the stars, no matter how spectacularly you might fail, and even if you fail, deal with it and try again (which is a great message). Shame the movie didn’t listen to itself.

That’s all for this film. What did you think, did you like it, or will you avoid visiting Elizabethtown? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke