Perfectly adorable

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Masterful Movie

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Two Navy men are ordered to bring a young offender to prison but decide to show him one last good time along the way. Starring Jack Nicholson and a young and scary Randy Quaid before he went insane now is this movie that deserves a 7.6? No does it have anything memorable? Well not really except Nicholson kicking the crap out of Quaid and a girls boobs that's about it. Honestly it's kinda boring and there where a lot of times that i wanted to stop the film and put it back on the box but i kept watching it because of Jack Nicholson other than that the film does have some nice performances and it keeps up during the ending but other than that it was an OK movie nothing more. I give it a 7 out of 10.

Billy Buddusky and Richard Mulhall would not normally be friends. In another line of work they would scarcely converse apart from perhaps the odd small talk and polite nod. But circumstances and life choice have pushed them together to transport a prisoner to Portsmouth Naval Prison, so they begrudgingly strike up a partnership of sorts, if only so that the five days are not too unbearable. Then you throw in the gangly, awkward Larry Meadows, a young sailor being imprisoned for a small crime, and suddenly they look like a makeshift family. Over the course of the journey, two soldiers transporting a criminal slowly becomes a family road-trip. Like any odd couple the pair have their differences on how to treat and raise their son. In the middle of the film, Mule momentarily has a change of heart, chastising his partner on his whole coddling act. It won't do him any good for the harsh punishment he is about to endure, he reason. Billy indeed acts as a helicopter parent, albeit a hostile one. He demonstrates his learned masculinity in acts of lavish drinking and violence as if Larry was a toddler who mimics all he sees. When Larry refuses to stand up for himself, Billy utters the words for him, sending back a sandwich. "You're gonna have a f*cking beer," he snarls later. Because drinking is basically a masculine rite of passage in certain social circles, this is not just a pleasant invitation, but a demand. He will not take failure for an answer. Nicholson is loud and brash, as this is the only way his character knows how. Young acts as the more moderate counterpoint, hellbent on completing the mission at hand as we witness momentarily, but he too learns to fit in and accept the camaraderie, and his role in the unit. When Larry finally has the courage to send back his eggs, the two chuckle and pat him on the back as though he was a boy learning to ride the bicycle. What a memorable moment. Quaid is the one who pulls it all together. Perhaps he does not defy his gigantic frame so much as he grows into it; his height only serves to accentuate his nervous, timid manner, the way he always seems to have his hands in his pockets and his head bowed, having to be goaded and pushed into action. The first time I watched this I had the feeling that the ending was rather incomplete. It ends on an abrupt note; there is no extra story to be told after their assignment is finished, no sign of any closure for the trio's journeys. But seeing it now it all makes much more sense. The pair don't have the courage or guts to actually do something about the injustice of an eight year imprisonment for stealing forty dollars - the best they can do is a small white lie. So instead they try to distance themselves from the act and pretend after all the fun and bonding over beating up marines and snowy bbqs they aren't actually invested in the life of their prisoner. Not a moment after they are back to bitching about the little insignificant things. And they don't even want to stick around, but rather make their own separate way back. There's something very sad about the fact.

I just love the scene late in this film where the characters are trying to have a barbecue in that cold snowy park...everything about it wreaks of desperation; of bleakness. It is also nostalgia fuel for me...taking me back to teenage days in cold rainy parks drinking cold beers with friends...trying to get the party going when the elements are primed to crush you. No, this isn't a review, no need for that...that's been well covered here. I just need to add my words of love for this film. I probably watch it once a year but only recently got a handle on why it's like (cold) comfort food to me. It's that frozen sausage sizzle and the nostalgic chill it sends through me...go figure.

There's so much I like about this movie. I was in the Navy when I first saw it and loved how it realistically captured the enlisted reality. The dread you felt when an office or Chief came down the hall looking for volunteers. And you were trapped into some stupid detail. As Mule and Badass drag along Larry to prison forever, they stop along the way to make sure he gets some life experiences before being locked up. Larry matures enough that by the end he can speak up about his unmelted cheese and attempt a getaway. The dialog is perfect -- the slang, the intonation, and the attitudes have been captures. The acting is effortless.