Bette Midler in For the Boys (1991)

Pics

Review

For the Boys (1991) is one of my favorite Bette Midler performances, and I am a huge fan of the divine Ms. M. Others agreed with me, as she was nominated by the Academy for best actress, and received best actress from the Golden Globes.

Midler (as Dixie Leonard) is an unknown radio singer at the start of WW-II, when she gets her big break. Her uncle is a writer for famous song and dance man Eddie Sparks (James Caan), and gets her a gig on his European USO tour. She leaves her young son with a friend, and flies off to London for what is probably a career making chance.

She arrives late, tears her dress, gets off on the wrong foot with Eddie, but is a huge hit with the GIs, both for her singing, and her indelicate humor. Eddie wants her on the first plane home, but is convinced by his writers and his manager that the two of them together will take show business by storm. In all honesty, this is the best part of the film.

The story is told as a flashback by Midler to a young production assistant who has arrived to get her to an awards show with Eddie, whom she hasn't spoken to in 25 years. They did the USO thing through WW-II, had a hit TV sitcom, went back on tour for Korea, and then again for Vietnam, where Midler's son is killed in front of her.

She blames Eddie for this, and for not defending her uncle against an HUAC blacklisting. Take Bette from this film, and it would not be watchable. I am a fan of big band music, so really enjoyed the music. The makeup in aging Eddie and Dixie was very well done, and some of the sets were impressive. I am going to call this genre a "serious Bette Midler," and give it a C+.

Nudity Report None, other than cleavage.

Critics Vote: Leonard Maltin awards 2 1/2 stars, but praises Midler's performance. Roger Ebert, in a carefully written review, trashes the film as having a bad script and lack of character development, while awarding 2 stars.

IMDB Summary:IMDB readers say 5.8 out of 10.

Box Office: US gross was $17.68m.

Written by: Tuna ...courtesy of Scoopy.net