It may be a small role, but he steals every scene. After that, we have to give a mention to John Candy’s lovable Ox. I love that he’s the “smart” one of the pair but so often gets pulled into a bad situation because he’s also spineless against Winger’s prodding. Oates plays it straight as can be letting Murray’s brand of subtle humor shine as a result. The interplay with Murray and Warren Oates’ Hulka is gold. What I like about this one, in particular, is that it’s not out to make the military the butt of a joke but instead has fun with the idea that a slacker like Winger could survive the service. In the pantheon of military comedies, Stripes may not lead the pack, but it’s a damn funny entry nonetheless. Similarly, you can’t really make terrorist action/comedies like True Lies anymore. You can’t really make miliary-themed comedies like Stripes anymore. That obviously changed about 20 years ago.
The military was something that could be joked about. In the late 90s when I was closing out my high school career, I knew so many guys who joined ROTC programs or went into the service simply to get the G.I. Without a genuine war to fight, the idea of joining the army was viewed as a dodge or hustle to get out of trouble and cash an easy paycheck. Obviously, Ivan Reitman’s Stripes falls into the latter category. In the post-Vietnam post-Nixon era, Hollywood was either churning out the tense and terrifying conspiracy thriller movies like The Parallax View or they were pumping out military spoofs the likes of M*A*S*H. After hundreds of pushups, days upon days of KP, and miles of rain-soaked marches - somehow their platoon graduates basic training and is put in command of the Army’s newest and most lethal urban assault vehicle - an armored campervan. Immediately John pisses off Sargent Hulka (Warren Oates). Only army life isn’t exactly as advertised on television. After John loses his job, girlfriend, car, apartment, and pizza all in the same day - he convinces Russell the best thing for them to do is join the army. Best friends John Winger (Bill Murray) and Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis) live dead-end jobs with no prospects.
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