Biloxi Blues
Biloxi Blues is a 1988 American comedy-drama directed by Mike Nichols, written by Neil Simon from his semi-autobiographical Broadway play, and starring Matthew Broderick as Eugene Morris Jerome, a young Brooklyn recruit sent to Army basic training in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1945, near the end of World War II.1 • 2 It is the second part of Simon's "Eugene trilogy," between Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986) and Broadway Bound (1992).1 • 3
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Formally released March 25, 1988 by Universal Pictures; premiered March 18, 1988 in Fort Smith, Arkansas1 |
| Source | Neil Simon's play, the second of his Eugene trilogy; the play won the 1985 Tony Award for Best Play1 |
| Director and writer | Mike Nichols (director); Neil Simon (screenplay and play); producer Ray Stark, Rastar1 |
| Lead cast | Matthew Broderick (Eugene Morris Jerome), Christopher Walken (Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey), Corey Parker (Arnold Epstein), Penelope Ann Miller (Daisy)1 |
| Box office | $43,184,798 domestic, $8,500,000 international, $51,684,798 worldwide; opening weekend $7,093,325 on 1,239 screens4 |
| Filming | Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, and nearby towns, April 18 to June 24, 1987; budget reported at $17 million1 |
| Rating and runtime | PG-13; 107 minutes1 |
| Critical scores | 76% Tomatometer (29 reviews); 63% Popcornmeter5 |
Spoilers
Story
The year is 1945. Eugene Morris Jerome, a twenty-year-old Jewish man from Brooklyn, is drafted into the U.S. Army and shipped south to basic training in Biloxi, Mississippi.6 Expecting the army to be "dolls, doughnuts and USO dances," he instead meets a tough drill sergeant and a platoon of often hostile recruits, and armed with his sense of humor he is determined to leave camp with everything he came in with except his virginity.7 A summary of the film's goals puts it plainly: lose his virginity, become a writer, and survive World War II.8
At boot camp Eugene is antagonized by the drill instructor Sergeant Toomey, played by Christopher Walken, and is introduced to adulthood through his experiences with a diverse group of young recruits, a Biloxi beauty, and a local prostitute.5 His fellow recruits include the bullies Joseph Wykowski (Matt Mulhern) and Roy Selridge (Markus Flanagan), the devout Don Carney (Casey Siemaszko), James J. Hennesey (Michael Dolan), and the intellectual Arnold Epstein (Corey Parker).1 Eugene has his first sexual encounter with Rowena (Park Overall) and later falls in love with a local girl, Daisy (Penelope Ann Miller), at a United Service Organizations dance.6 The film's advertising line was: "The army made Eugene a man. But Daisy gave him basic training!"2
From stage to screen
The play Biloxi Blues premiered on December 8, 1984, at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, opened on Broadway on March 28, 1985, at the Neil Simon Theatre, and closed on June 28, 1986.1 It ran for 524 performances and won three Tony Awards, including Best Play.2 Matthew Broderick had won a Tony for playing Eugene in Brighton Beach Memoirs and reprised the character for Biloxi Blues on stage.2
Because Broderick was busy on stage, the 1986 film of Brighton Beach Memoirs cast Jonathan Silverman as Eugene; when the Biloxi Blues film was made, Broderick was available and took the part.2 Broderick, Matt Mulhern, and Penelope Ann Miller reprised their roles from the New York stage production.1
Mike Nichols had directed five of Simon's plays on Broadway but had never directed a film version of any of them, reasoning that adapting a work he had already staged would offer no sense of artistic discovery. He had not directed the stage version of Biloxi Blues, so he took the opportunity to translate Simon to the screen for the first time.2 It became their final professional collaboration.6
Production
Filming began on April 18, 1987, and wrapped on June 24, 1987.1 The real Biloxi camp was unusable because it had been refurbished many times since World War II and looked too modern; Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, was nearly pristine, with many buildings untouched since the 1940s.2 Locations included Barling, Charleston, Fort Chaffee, Fort Smith, and Van Buren, Arkansas, with trestle bridge shots at Frog Bayou near Dyer and a nighttime train scene at Chester.1 • 6 Nichols wanted a look evoking the innocence and romance of Norman Rockwell, and the film includes a scene in which the characters watch the Abbott and Costello service comedy Buck Privates (1941).2
Cinematographer Bill Butler shot the picture in Super-35mm for greater depth of field, giving it what he called "a subtly comedic look" that was "tender, not tough." For the opening moving-train sequence, shot on a mock-up, Nichols suspended the camera on a system of bungee cords to create the right jiggle, a low-tech solution on a high-budget film.2 Georges Delerue composed the score, Sam O'Steen edited, Paul Sylbert was production designer, and Ann Roth designed costumes.1
Box office and reception
The film placed first at the box office in its opening weekend, taking in $7.1 million on 1,239 screens.1 It finished with $43,184,798 domestically (83.6 percent of its total) and $51,684,798 worldwide, ranking 20th among 1988's domestic releases.4 • 9 A home-video release followed on January 27, 2004, by Universal Home Entertainment.10
Reviews were moderately positive, though many critics found the picture a bit too mild and lacking in drama.2 The New York Times critic Vincent Canby gave the film a rave, calling it "a first-rate service comedy" and praising Walken, who "underplays dramatically and to pointed effect."2 Roger Ebert, the Chicago Sun-Times critic, disagreed sharply, writing that the film was "pale, shallow, unconvincing and predictable" and suffered by comparison with most basic-training movies.11 The disagreement had consequences: producer Ray Stark placed Ebert and Gene Siskel on a personal blacklist after they blasted the film on their television show, contrary to the generally favorable reviews it received elsewhere.12 On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 76 percent Tomatometer from 29 reviews and a 63 percent audience score.5
Availability
As of the most recent checks, the film has no free streaming options in the United States; it can be rented for $3.99 or bought for $14.99 on Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, Google Play Movies, and YouTube, and is also sold on DVD and Blu-ray.8 • 3
References
- Biloxi Blues (1988), AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Biloxi Blues (1988), by Jeremy Arnold, Turner Classic Movies
- Biloxi Blues: Where to Watch, Moviefone
- Biloxi Blues (1988), Box Office Mojo
- Biloxi Blues, Rotten Tomatoes
- Biloxi Blues, Encyclopedia of Arkansas
- Biloxi Blues, Universal Pictures At Home
- Biloxi Blues streaming: where to watch movie online?, JustWatch
- Domestic Box Office For 1988, Box Office Mojo
- Biloxi Blues (1988), Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers
- Biloxi Blues Movie Review, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, March 25, 1988
- First Off . . ., Los Angeles Times, April 29, 1988
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1980s › Comedy-dramas of the 1980s
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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