Protocol (1984) starring Goldie Hawn, Chris Sarandon, Richard Romanus, Andre Gregory, Gail Strickland directed by Herbert Ross Movie Review

Protocol (1984)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Goldie Hawn in Protocol (1984)

Goldie Does Diplomacy

"Protocol" is one of those movies which have a problem and that problem comes from it being a star vehicle rather than a movie about a story. As such whilst "Protocol" should have been a political satire about devious politicians and advisers trying to use a bubbly and naive cocktail waitress who gets thrust in to the public eye it all ends up about Goldie Hawn doing the Goldie Hawn thing. Now for fans of Goldie Hawn that is fine but for those who are fans of comedy are going to be left disappointed because the jokes only ever revolve around Goldie and they are not great jokes.

The closest cocktail waitress Sunny Davis (Goldie Hawn - Private Benjamin) got to politics where her car broke down and blocked a presidential motorcade. But that all changes when having finished her shift at Lou's Safari Club she foils an assassination attempt and suddenly she becomes huge news and her simplistic views and bubbly persona makes her a big hit so much so that she finds herself being offered work in politics except what she doesn't know is that those offering work have a hidden agenda involving a harem.

Chris Sarandon in Protocol (1984)

To put it simply "Protocol" is one of those movies which the longer it goes on the less interesting and entertaining it becomes as you slowly realise that it is purely a vehicle for Goldie Hawn. It's a shame as the opening scene which features her broken down car blocking a presidential motorcade is amusing as are the various other things from living with two gay men to working as a cocktail waitress in an animal themed bar. In fact for the first 20 minutes it sets up an interesting character in Sunny and an interesting situation where she suddenly finds herself in the public eye and winning lots of fans.

The trouble is that after that it not only reverts to type and throws in an obligatory romantic subplot but becomes purely a procession of daft set pieces revolving around Sunny. For example there is a daft scene where she is invited to a bar b q function for dignitaries and shows up dressed for a beach party style bar b q rather than a formal one. And I could go on as scene after scene ends up basically being dumb blonde getting wrong in a cute way with what also seems an obligatory scene of Goldie Hawn in a bathtub with the foam preserving her decency. Unfortunately that means the rest of the cast which includes Ed Begley Jr. and Cliff De Young are criminally underused.

What this all boils down to is that "Protocol" ends up nothing more than a star vehicle for Goldie Hawn and her cute brand of dumb blonde humour. It is disappointing for fans of comedies but for fans of Goldie's it will still be fun.


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