In the Army Now (1994) * 1/2 (out of 4)Bones (Pauly Shore) and Jack (Andy Dick) decide to join the Army so that they can make some quick cash, which they plan to use for an endevor they have. However, the two didn't realize that you'd have to do real work in the Army and as soon as basic training is over they are called to battle.Comedian Shore started to rise to fame with ENCINO MAn and SON IN LAW made him a star. His time at the top wasn't too long as IN THE ARMY now was followed by a string of bombs including JURY DUTY and BIO-DOME. These three films pretty much killed his career and his name over the title days were over.I enjoyed Shore in the first two films that I mentioned but there's no question that this act didn't work too well. IN THE ARMY NOW is certainly better than the two films that were to follow but there's no question that there's not too much here. Five screenwriters are given credit for this mess, which is pretty much a stoner version of STRIPES where a couple misfits join the Army not knowing what they're getting into.Shore and Dick can work apart but put them together and you've got some pretty annoying attempts at humor. The one saving grace in the film was Lynn Witfield as the sexy drill instructor who gets several jokes thrown her way. Lori Petty and David Alan Grier are both wasted in thankless roles. Sadly, the screenplay does very little and it certainly delivers very few laughs.The problem with a film like IN THE ARMY NOW is that it seems the filmmakers thought you could be annoying as possible and this would lead to some laughs. Sadly, it didn't and you're just left with a comedy that has very few laughs.

Pauly Shore was the wrath of different moviegoers and critics during the early 1990's because of his annoying "Valley Guy" roles, that in some early efforts like "Encino Man", and later ones like "Bio-Dome" and "Jury Duty", really did prove annoying and just painful. In between all of those was 1993's "Son In Law", where Shore did play that obnoxious character, but the movie had a lot of likability in it's fish-out-of-water premise,and the way Shore interacted with his supporting cast. Then there was this movie, which is a formula that continued after Goldie Hawn starred in "Private Benjamin" 14 years earlier. The formula: One of the most popular comic actors of their day would do a fish-out-of-water service comedy. Immediately following was Bill Murray in "Stripes" and then eventually Shore signed on for one as well. If you hate Pauly Shore the good news is, you will find him more tolerable and bearable here. While he has some aspects of his previous "Valley Guy" roles in this movie, he is much more restrained here playing more of a dumb straight man, than a dumb, goofy one. He plays an electronics store salesman who is fired when he and his friend Andy Dick mess around on the job. He is then informed about the Army reserves thinking his commitment will be minimal and ignoring the fact that he has to go through training. Thinking it will be the easiest area in the reserves he and Dick sign up for water purification due to his brother being a pool man, and after barely surviving basic training, little does he know he and his team are about to be the first called to a desert war in Chad, and off all of them go to defend the U.S. in Africa. The movie although far more appropriate than "Stripes" is nowhere near as funny, but Shore and his supporting cast do squeeze a little bit of humor into it. The best moments are of course in training, from the moment he gets the classic Army haircut and screams like a little girl at the horror of seeing it, to his female drill sergeant played by Lynn Whitfield, and then pretending that he and Dick are gay to get a discharge so they won't have to go to Chad. Also David Alan Grier gives a very funny supporting performance as the meek, wimpy dental student who becomes part of Shore's team. He is such an underrated comic actor, who brings this movie moments of high comic relief it needs. Lori Petty the only female water purifier of the group, has some nice chemistry with Shore, though she really doesn't quite seem to be his equally goofy match. I guess the idea of them being polar opposites makes it more funny or so the writers thought anyway. Dick is actually more annoying than Shore is here, and seems to be playing a more restrained version of his real life persona. I cannot stand Andy Dick but thankfully he is not the entire focus of the story here making his character merely tolerable, though its a shame they couldn't have found Shore a better sidekick like what Harold Ramis was to Bill Murray in "Stripes." Overall, though formulaic there are some very funny moments and good comedic performances that makes this Shore comedy arguably the comedic actor's finest hour, for what that is worth anyway.

Whatever happened to Pauley Shore? I guess he's still around but you didn't hear much from him after this movie, which was a decent success. It was a surprisingly-good lightweight comedy with a bunch of likable goofs and weirdos from Glendale, California, and their adventures after they join the Army Reserves.The language was pretty tame in here but there were a lot of sexual innuendos, too many for a PG rating but not surprising in a modern-day comedy. That comedy overall is good with some laugh-out-loud scenes.Also, as with many films, the ending gets carried away. It was really dumb, but for most of this movie it was entertaining enough to certainly recommend if you need a laugh.

It's Pauly Shore. It is what it is. However, i do have one, personally infamous issue with this movie. Oh sure, i can laugh about it now b/c it was so long ago, but at the time, i could have beat Pauly Shore with any number of garden tools. you see... I was going through basic training for the Army at Ft. Sill in 1994 and was "asked" by my drill sergeant's to be one of the unwittingly captive extras out there running in place in the "EXTEND TO THE LEFT---MARCH!!!" scene. That's right, sports fans, i was one of those poor souls kept out of bed until the wee hours of the morning so that Mr. Shore could have his early morning Army PT scene. Only it wasn't early morning. It was filmed in about three takes between the hours of 2000 and 2400. That's 9:00p.m. 'til midnight. For those or us who know, sleep in basic training is a rare and valued commodity and Mr. Shore took about four of the six hours i got away that night. So, needless to say, my fellow recruits and I didn't much care for Mr. Shore, especially at 0300 the next morning when the training day started. we somehow got through it but never really got over it. It wasn't until a few years later that I finally got to watch the movie. That infamous scene comes on and guess what I see. I see my bald-headed self out there running in place clear as day...well, night. It's only for maybe three seconds, but it's long enough to be confirmed by a number of people. So, there it is, three seconds of my fifteen minutes of fame used in a Pauly Shore movie. wow.