Sons o' Guns: A chaotic mess of a war comedy

Is this thing worth the watch?

Honestly, only if you have a soft spot for 1930s musical-comedy stars trying to be soldiers. If you hate slapstick or get annoyed by plot threads that make zero sense, skip it. Joe E. Brown fans will eat it up, but everyone else might just find themselves checking the time.

The whole thing kicks off with Jimmy Canfield trying to dodge an actress named Berenice. It’s the kind of high-stakes Broadway drama that feels like it belongs in something like Ever Since Eve, just with more marching music. He bluffs about enlisting, the bluff backfires, and suddenly he's in uniform. Typical.

The France segment

Once he hits the front lines, the movie stops trying to be a musical and starts trying to be a spy thriller. It doesn't work, but it’s kind of funny to watch it try. He meets a French barmaid, and there’s this weird, stiff chemistry there. It’s like the actors were told to 'fall in love' by the director but forgot to tell their faces to do the same.

Then he gets arrested as a spy. Of course he does. The prison break scene feels like it was filmed in a backyard. There’s no tension, just a lot of running around and doors slamming. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in Everything's Rosie, where things happen just because the script needs them to.

• Joe E. Brown is basically doing his own thing the whole time.
• The German uniform plot is... a choice.
• Joan Blondell is in here too, looking like she’s waiting for a better script to arrive.

The part where he ends up leading a group of German soldiers while dressed as one of them is the peak of the movie's absurdity. It’s so poorly set up that it loops back around to being kind of entertaining. You’re just sitting there waiting for the inevitable moment when his fake mustache or his fake accent slips up.

It’s not exactly deep stuff. It doesn't have the grit of a real war movie, but it also doesn't have the polish of a top-tier studio musical. It just sits in the middle, looking a bit confused. If you've seen enough old comedies, you know the drill: someone gets into trouble, they lie, the lie becomes the truth, and everyone laughs at the end. It’s a very safe, very predictable ride. Sometimes, though, that’s exactly what you want on a Tuesday afternoon. Just don't expect it to change your life. 🍿