For the Boys

Bette Midler poured her heart and soul into this story of a pair of entertainers who repeatedly took time from their careers to entertain U.S. troops at war, from World War II to Vietnam--and it sank like a stone at the box office. Granted, it's corny and emotionally over the top. But there are strong emotions at play here in the tale of an unlikely team of singer and comedian (played by Midler and James Caan), who are brought together for a reunion show in their dotage. As they nervously anticipate seeing each other for the first time in years, they are flooded with memories of their earlier days as a hot show-biz couple whose own troubles always took second place to their patriotic urge to buoy our boys in uniform. Some say this was a veiled film version of the Martha Raye story; Midler gives it her all and Caan isn't half-bad. But director Mark Rydell lays on the schmaltz so thickly at times that it overpowers the tougher material. --Marshall Fine