Para Eles, com Muito Amor

An interesting film that seemed to try and do one too many things. It wants to entertain, educate, provide nostalgia, laughs and do character studies. The most interesting character easily is Bette Midlers Dixie Leonard. During her first performance `For The Boys' she is a vibrant comical singing and dancing entertainer who throws her heart and soul into her show. She is perhaps naïve and oblivious to what war is about and maybe even thinks it's just one big party and nobody really dies or suffers. By the end when she goes to Vietnam she is a vulgar, disgusting, embittered slob who harbors some anger that the GIs no longer swoon over her as they did a quarter of a century or so earlier. The GI's are of a different generation and she can't relate to them or why they have the attitude they do. She is perhaps also angry with herself for not being able to be enthused about performing for the fighting men of this war the way she was years ago. How does she end up like this? Well that's what this picture is partly about. It's not a bad movie and didn't deserve the blasting the critics gave it.

In full brassy form, Bette Midler plays Dixie Leonard, who does USO performances in WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Throughout pleasant times and hard times (and even through tragedies), she and co-star Eddie Sparks (James Caan) always have to find a way to make sure that the show goes on.

I don't know whether I would call this a masterpiece, but it's some good nostalgia. Midler shows off her talents the same as she did in "The Rose". And moreover, "For the Boys" also looks at the sorts of things going on during those wars, including Cold War-era red-baiting. Worth seeing.

Bette Midler proves that she can single-handedly make a film worth watching in FOR THE BOYS, an overlong but rewarding comedy-drama with music which chronicles the relationship between singer Dixie Leonard and comic Eddie Sparks (James Caan), a character clearly patterned after Bob Hope, which begins during a WWII USO tour and concludes in the present where the glamorously aging couple are being reunited for a television special. Bette received her second Best Actress Oscar nomination for her commanding performance here, She lights up the screen whether Dixie is upstaging Eddie in front of thousands of troops during WWII, cursing out sponsors during her and Eddie's television show, or tearing Eddie a new one when she thinks he is trying to steal her son away from her. As expected, she makes the most of her musical moments in the film with "Stuff Like that There" and "Come Rain or Come Shine" as standouts. Caan works hard in the role of Eddie Sparks, managing to make a pretty despicable character rather likable for the majority of the story. The only big mistake here was director Mark Rydell's casting of his real-life son, Christopher in the pivotal role of Dixie's adult son. Rydell's lifeless performance is a major detriment to an important part of the film, but for the most part, FOR THE BOYS is grand entertainment, thanks to the Divine Miss M.

Production assistant Jeff Brooks (Arye Gross) tries to convince Dixie Leonhard (Bette Midler) to join Eddie Sparks (James Caan) on his TV special. Dixie is bitter and recounts her history with Eddie. During WWII, Dixie is overjoyed to sing with Eddie. On the other hand, he is dismissive at first and angry at her crude humor. Art Silver (George Segal) convinces them to be an entertainment duo. Dixie's husband gets killed in the war. During Korea, they get caught up in the fighting. Art is blacklisted and Eddie is forced to fire him. Dixie's son Danny starts rebelling and sees Eddie as a father figure. Danny joins the military for Vietnam and Dixie blames Eddie for his lost.

The construction is very flat and biopic-like. The problem is that it's not a biography and it doesn't have that extra appeal. There is very little intensity and the drama has no tension. The central conflict centers on Danny and yet he is no more than a prop. This movie should be mostly about the conflict between Eddie and Dixie over Danny. That's the only place where the drama has any tension.

"For The Boys" is the story of two people - the irrepressible Dixie Leonard (Bette Midler) and the instantly dislikable but ever popular Eddie Sparks (James Caan). Set against the backdrop of wars in which the United States has been involved, the film moves from station to station as the pair entertain the boys while they bicker and fight amongst themselves.

The film starts with an aged Midler telling a studio assistant (Arye Gross) her tale, starting in the forties with World War II, moving through the was in Korea and climaxing in Vietnam. Along the way, she gets to sing a few classic tunes, including "Stuff Like That There" and "P.S. I Love You, as part of the stage act of comedian Eddie Sparks.

Bette Midler delivers a fine performance as the embittered Dixie Leonard who has seen it all in fifty odd years in the business. She layers her performance with emotion after emotion and has the gift of bringing out that quality in her fellow actors. The highlight of this film is her understated performance of "In My Life" at the small Vietnamese camp - truly a moment when the world stops turning and we are graced with a glimpse of heaven. James Caan, playing a quintessential son of a bitch, is less comfortable in his role but has some fine moments opposite his dynamic co-star.

The purpose of this film is not to document the wars which form such an integral backdrop to the plot. It succeeds primarily as a story of people - their suffering and their joy is real and it affects the audience in no uncertain terms. You will either love or hate this movie. Either way, take the time to decide - its worth the screening even if only for the divine Miss M.