Today’s quick review: Stripes. To shake up their dead-end lives, John Winger (Bill Murray), an underachieving cab driver, and Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis), his best friend, enlist in the Army. There they are subjected to the rigors of Basic Training under the hard-nosed Sergeant Hulka (Warren Oates). As the stress of training takes its toll, John, Russell, and fellow recruit Ox (John Candy) unwind with a wide array of creative mischief.
Stripes is a slacker comedy about the Army from director Ivan Reitman. Stripes follows John and Russell as they worm their way through Army training, trying to have as much fun as possible without getting kicked out. Stripes’ recipe is similar to other comedies of its era: a rebellious lead with a sharp wit, a few wild situations, a dash of slapstick, and a touch of nudity. The result is a tidy and entertaining, if conventional, film.
Compared to similar comedies, Stripes is decent but unexceptional. Bill Murray leads the movie with his excellent patter, and he plays well off of Harold Ramis and Warren Oates. John Candy provides backup humor, but the rest of the recruits are given brief introductions and little more. As such, Stripes is a simpler, more tightly focused comedy than ensemble pictures like Caddyshack or Animal House.
Watch Stripes when you are in the mood for a light comedy with decent execution. Stripes condenses its style of comedy to its core essence, delivering good dialogue, likable characters, and fairly strong moments without committing to a large cast, an elaborate plot, or excessive silliness. For a comedy in a similar vein that has better writing and more polish, check out Ghostbusters. For a wilder comedy with lots of iconic moments, check out Animal House.
6.9 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for solid comedy.