No one in their right mind would call any Pauly Shore movie a work of cinematic genius. The gags are usually cheap, and the style of humor is pretty juvenile. Still, the dopey delivery Shore is famous for — the same inflection he uses for every character — is priceless.
Putting a militaristic twist on the clichéd fish-out-of-water formula, In the Army Now stars the king of 90s screwball comedies and a then-unknown Andy Dick as two suddenly unemployed electronics store clerks who join the Army Reserve. A predictable deus ex machina calls the blundering buddies to active duty in Chad, despite their best efforts to get discharged.
Shore and Dick’s zany displays of feigned homosexuality alone lend the film comedic merit. Watching the incompetent slackers bungle their way through boot camp and battle is endlessly entertaining.
Pioneering the genre of stoner-comedy, Shore’s movies, especially this one, hold an important place in the canon of American slapstick.
