A mildly amusing film that fails to be all it can be

Rating: 6/10 (7 April 2015)

I saw "Stripes" years ago, but didn't remember much of it, aside from the ice cream scoop gag, not because it was unusually hilarious but because it was weird and nonsensical. Watching it again with high expectations because it is considered a comedy classic and a fairly open mind, I found it disappointing. It has some funny lines, but my general impression was that it missed many opportunities to be much funnier than it was.
It has a formulaic three-act structure, but it's weak. It's not what Blake Snyder would have classified as a fool triumphant, fish out of water, institutionalized, buddy love, coming of age or road trip, nor does it seem to fit easily into McKee's more detailed taxonomy of structures. John declares he wants to join the army to dry out, get into shape, acquire martial arts and earn enough money to purchase a Winnebago RV to impress the girls. Russell counters that he has a warped idea of the army as a sort of health club with neat uniforms. Later, Sergeant Hulka says he hopes that one day John will understand that soldiering is about discipline, duty, honor and courage. But of all these noble goals, the only one that gets any play is the Winnebago. At the end of the film, John is the same irresponsible, out of shape screw-up he was at the beginning, while Russell remains his reluctant but reliable sidekick. They don't achieve their goals or overcome any obstacles by acquiring new skills. John does deliver a motivational talk to his platoon, but he uses the same glib used car salesman tactics he used to persuade Russell to enlist. He later throws caution to the wind to come to the aid of his comrades, but this is the same attitude that led him to enlist.
Several scenes struck me as mildly amusing when they could have been much more. At one point, Hulka, who has already proved his superior skills, climbs a rope. I remember climbing the same type of rope in gym class as a teenager and I was more of a nerd than a jock. It's not a particularly difficult task, but it seems daunting to the group of misfits for some reason. The scene would have had much more impact if Hulka had used only his arms and kept his legs extended. At another point, a soldier is interrogated by unfriendly adversaries. The scene is dramatically dead, as the soldier had no secrets to protect, and it wasn't funny. There are dozens of ways the scene could have been made humorous. The soldier could have developed a serious stutter or insisted on giving his serial number but unable to recall it. They could have threatened him with bizarre forms of torture or a grasshopper (as in "Ronin"). Their interrogation techniques could have gone awry. They could have administered a truth serum with unexpected consequences.
The platoon is somewhat diverse physically and ethnically, but they're all misfits. They could have achieved much more comedic and dramatic potential by giving each of the soldiers a special skill that John is uniquely able to elicit to overcome the final obstacles. Instead, half a dozen are given one-liners or an occasional pratfall or sight gag, but they're mostly tangential to the plot except for Candy's encounter with a door.
A lot of attention is lavished on John and Russell's love interests. As with most comedies other than rom-coms, the attraction of the straight character to the foolish character is not intuitively obvious. Here the attraction seems particularly improbable. Not only does the Army assign two petite girls to MP duty and later send them to Italy for no apparent reason, but these girls who are surrounded by physically fit young men, are irresistibly attracted to a couple of physically inept, irresponsible doofuses who lack the qualities the girls themselves consider important enough to pursue military careers. Not only do John and Russell need to do nothing to win their love and devotion, but they can't seem to do anything foolish enough to discourage them. At the beginning of the film, John's girlfriend leaves him because he is irresponsible, but he doesn't need to acquire responsibility to find love.
The film has a few good moments and some funny lines and gags, but could have been much better and squanders a talented cast in underdeveloped supporting roles.