Stripes

I saw Stripes last night. It's been years -- over a decade I'm sure -- since I last saw it. The movie is a classic -- and will probably appeal to you if you were there when it first came out -- or if adolescent, frat-boy, silly humour, appeals to you. Made in 1981, Stripes is directed by Ivan Reitman, and stars who's who of comedy talent: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John Candy, John Larroquette and Judge Reinhold. There are other faces in the movie that will be recognized as well -- and for many of them, this was their debut movie. It's a great watch for nostalgic reasons -- seeing the actors, somewhat raw, before they honed their acting skills -- and for the memory lane trip that will make you want to watch the Revenge of the Nerds and National Lampoon movies -- as well as Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, and all the other classics.

In Stripes, Murray and Ramis takes on the US Army. The two are a couple of losers -- lazy -- with no direction in life, jumping from job to job and drinking too much. After they've seen one too many Army commercials, they sign up, but never take the Army seriously. They encounter two bubble-head MPs who seem to love losers, because the ladies immediately fall for the pair. Along with the other recruits, Murray and Ramis make life hell for the drill sergeant, who's job it is to make their lives hell. True luck more than anything else, the boys graduate, and are given babysitting duties of a state of the art RV that really is a sophisticated military vehicle. Their shenanigans don't end, as they drive from Italy to Germany to get laid -- have the rest of their company fall into Russian hands -- then pull off a rescue that makes them national heroes. Far from realistic, but good fun nonetheless. If you've never seen Stripes, or haven't seen it for a while, it bears watching ... it's good fun.