Biloxi Blues

By Marshall Fine

Part 2 of Neil Simon's semiautobiographical theater trilogy about his growth from adolescence into adulthood, this film was a vast improvement over the film version of Brighton Beach Memoirs. Directed by Mike Nichols and starring Broadway star Matthew Broderick as Simon's stand-in, Eugene Jerome, the story follows him from the nest of Brooklyn to army basic training in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he gets his introduction to the world beyond Coney Island. He encounters, among other things, racism, a drill sergeant who seems to be a nutcase (a hilarious Christopher Walken), and his introduction to paying sex (Broderick is particularly funny in this scene with Park Overall). Extremely entertaining mainstream fare done in a high-quality fashion.

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