# Sgt. Bilko (1996)

### reviewed by
Michael Redman

    Sgt. Bilko
    A Film Review By Michael Redman
    Copyright 1996 By Michael Redman

    * (out of ****)

Steve Martin is one of the funniest men alive. If you can take that as a true statement, then your disappointment at this film will equal mine. Martin can be hilarious, creating some of the best laugh-out-loud experiences that have ever taken place in movie theaters. You won't find any of them here.

The old television series that this is based on has its moments of humor and wit. Bilko (and the name isn't an accident) is the head of an army motor pool group, but his passion is his schemes. Every episode involves the sergeant and his men in one or another hair-brained plan to get rich quick while outwitting the officers of the base. "McHale's Navy"'s granddaddy.

That's the idea behind this movie too, but the difference is that, as far-fetched and usually goofy as the television series was, it was funny. There is not one laugh in the film. The re-make retains the goofiness, but not the entertainment.

Everything is just too clean. It was obviously made on a Hollywood back lot and looks every bit like it. It all looks brand new, even the old beat-up stuff. Martin is remarkably small in what should have been a bigger than life role. In the original, Phil Silvers played the huckster with a heart of gold and more than a touch of sleaziness. Martin's Bilko is a pale imitation.

The only semi-bright spot is Phil Hartman as Bilko's arch-enemy. It's not saying much, considering Martin's lackluster character, but Hartman leaves him in the dust.

[This appeared in the 4/4/96 "Bloomington Voice", Bloomington, Indiana. Michael Redman can be contacted at redman@bvoice.com] -- mailto:redman@bvoice.com This week's film review at http://www.bvoice.com/ Film reviews archive at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Michael%20Redman

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