Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Console best movie i've ever seen.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

tex-42 For the Boys is a movie that isn't sure what it wants to be. We have the clichéd showbiz biopic told in typical flashback following two people who don't seem to really like each other over fifty years set to the backdrops of World War II through Vietnam. We also have a look at the Red Scare, followed by the partners inevitable break up and reunion. In between, you have Bette Midler belting out some wonderful songs and James Caan standing there looking generally annoyed.This movie essentially sinks under the lack of chemistry between Caan and Midler, and their lack of believability as a comic duo. They play a variety act where only Midler seems to have any talent, despite the fact that Caan is supposed to be the big name of the group. When Midler isn't singing, she and Caan fight, yell and bicker. It isn't particularly fun or memorable. The movie gradually becomes very anti-war as well, depicting American soldiers in Vietnam as coarse and vulgar.Fans of Midler will like this movie just to hear her sing, and the movie lifts during those parts, only to sink again once things turn back to the drama.

Isaac5855 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.

Lee Eisenberg 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.

annmason1 This is a terrible movie that uses every trite sentimental piece of flotsom and jetsom that the irresponsible producers (Bette was one) could throw in.Here is the stout hearted troop entertaining other stout hearted troops from which hubby emerges to be sung to by his sexy smart mouthed hoofer/singer/wife on stage. His last hurrah. Cut to widow in black weeds. Here, worst of all, is the god-awful wrung out slow motion machine gun death of a perfect top-of-his-West-Point-class son, trying to reach Mom who, incidentally, probably drew the enemy fire in the first place with her belted out songs and thudding around the stage. It must be said in the son's favor, however, that he managed to get his hair stylishly cut (just a whisper of mousse)and deliver a moving anti-war speech to his slack jawed mom before biting the dust (dust he wouldn't have bit if he had the sense to come in out of the flack). By the way, didn't anyone casting this turkey realize that the son's bone structure and genetic characteristics would not have completely altered over the years from childhood? I think the adult son actor is hunky, but he must have been a Walk In for the other kid.It is deeply offensive to portray any young man dying the way this movie does. It is vicious and unnecessary, given the countless thousands of non-chic snipped young men who died in Vietnam. And, let's just say it, it is an insult to West Point. I mean, really, if they can't even teach their "point man" to keep his damn head down under fire, we might as well turn the place into a day care center.However, all that said, I would definitely recommend you see this movie. Bette in a rubber ducky suit is worth the price. Why is it that special effects people can give us incredible illusions like Star Wars, and can't make one middle aged Jewish woman believable as a dottering old crone? Just as well, it's hilarious to watch her waddle. When I saw Old Bette in that purple Balenciaga ballgown, I reflexively looked for the tie down rope.I can't bear to share my thoughts about the tear jerking (from laughter) final scene in this flick. Let's just say that "For the Boys" should be in a boxed set with the remake of "Lost Horizon".