Norman Rose

Neil Simon's light-hearted comedy about boot camp during World War II stars Matthew Broderick as a naive army recruit looking for action and Christopher Walken as his tough drill sergeant.

Matthew Broderick stars as a naïve army recruit looking for action – though not the battle kind – in Neil Simon's hilarious comedy about boot camp during WWII. The year is 1943 and Eugene Morris Jerome (Broderick) finds himself far from the comforts of his Brooklyn home after being sent to basic training in Biloxi, Mississippi. Expecting the army to be dolls, doughnuts and USO dances, he instead encounters a tough drill sergeant (Christopher Walken) and a platoon of often hostile recruits. Armed with only his sense of humor, Eugene is determined to leave camp with everything he came in with… except his virginity, in this light-hearted look at one man's determined plan to march to his own beat.

A young Army recruit is sent to Biloxi, Miss., toward the end of World War II, where he instantly butts heads with an off-kilter drill sergeant.

A group of young recruits go through boot camp during the Second World War in Biloxi Mississippi. From the play by Neil Simon.