''Major Payne'' is a 1995 American
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Nick Castle
Nicholas Castle is an American screenwriter, film director, and actor. He is known for playing Michael Myers in John Carpenter's horror film ''Halloween'' (1978). He reprised the role in ''Halloween'' (2018), and its sequels ''Halloween Kills'' ...
and starring
Damon Wayans
Damon Kyle Wayans Sr. (; born September 4, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. Wayans performed as a comedian and actor throughout the 1980s, including a year long stint on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live.' ...
, who wrote with
Dean Lorey
Dean Lorey (born November 17, 1967) is an American writer and producer whose projects include films such as ''Major Payne'' and '' Animal Crackers'', and television series which include ''My Wife and Kids'', ''Arrested Development'', ''The Crazy O ...
and Gary Rosen. The film co-stars
Karyn Parsons
Karyn Parsons Rockwell (born October 8, 1966) is an American actress, author and comedian. She is best known for her role as Hilary Banks on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' from 1990 to 1996. Parsons also starred in the 1995 film ' ...
,
Steven Martini and
Michael Ironside
Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters.
E ...
. It is a loose remake of the 1955 film ''
The Private War of Major Benson
''The Private War of Major Benson'' is 1955 comedy film starring Charlton Heston, Julie Adams, Sal Mineo and Tim Hovey, about a tough-talking U.S. Army officer who must shape up the JROTC program at Sheridan Academy, a Catholic boys' military a ...
'', starring
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...
. ''Major Payne'' was released in the United States on March 24 and grossed $30 million. Wayans plays a military officer who, after being discharged, attempts to lead a dysfunctional group of youth cadets to victory in a competition.
Plot
Major Benson Winifred Payne, a battle hardened
Marine, returns from a successful drug raid in South America to find out that he has been passed over for promotion. Payne receives an
honorable discharge
A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...
and tries to adjust to civilian life but ends up being arrested. His former commander gets him out of jail and secures him a position back in the military.
Payne is sent to Madison Preparatory School in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
and is given command of the
ROTC
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces.
Overview
While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...
students. The cadets are a disorderly group of delinquents and outcasts who have placed last in the Virginia Military Games for eight straight years. Payne immediately takes a hard stance with the cadets and asserts his authority. He shaves the cadets bald and moves them out of their dorms and into a dilapidated barracks. Payne's harsh punishments and lack of empathy for the cadets lead to friction with school counselor Emily Walburn, who tries to soften Payne's approach.
The cadets, encouraged by the rebellious Alex Stone, make several attempts to sabotage Payne and drive him out of the school. Stone and the cadets hire a biker to assault Payne, in the aftermath Payne makes Stone the squad leader. Things come to a head and Payne offers to quit if the cadets can steal him the Military Games trophy from Wellington Academy. Payne tips off the Wellington cadets and they ambush the Madison cadets and beat them severely. Stone confronts Payne and realizes that he wants to earn the trophy, Payne offers to train him to win it. The cadets begin working hard and training for the Military Games. They develop into a unified squad, and Payne tells them that they have graduated the program and are fit to compete in the games.
Before the games, Payne is asked to return to the Marines to fight in
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
. He eagerly accepts the new posting but his deployment means he will miss the Military Games. As Payne waits for a train to depart he daydreams about being in a family with Emily and Tiger. The cadets don't want to participate in the Games without Payne, but Alex convinces them to do it. At the games, the boys hold their own until Alex injures his ankle and is unable to participate in the final event. The Madison cadets angrily fight with the Wellington cadets. The fight is broken up, and the judges deliberate having Madison disqualified.
Payne refuses his new posting and commission and shows up at the last minute. He smooths things over with the judges and tells Tiger to lead Madison in the final event, a drill competition. The group executes an unorthodox but entertaining routine which wins them the trophy. On the first day of the new school year Madison displays the Military Games trophy, along with another one won by Alex. Payne resumes being an instructor, having married Emily and adopted Tiger. Stone resumes his role as a squad leader. Payne has softened a bit, attempting to befriend the new recruits. When a disrespectful blind cadet shows up with his service dog, Payne shaves both him and his dog bald with his field knife and laughs.
Cast
*
Damon Wayans
Damon Kyle Wayans Sr. (; born September 4, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. Wayans performed as a comedian and actor throughout the 1980s, including a year long stint on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live.' ...
as
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
Benson Winifred Payne, a battle-hardened Marine. Payne has difficulty adjusting to life outside the military.
*
Karyn Parsons
Karyn Parsons Rockwell (born October 8, 1966) is an American actress, author and comedian. She is best known for her role as Hilary Banks on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' from 1990 to 1996. Parsons also starred in the 1995 film ' ...
as Emily Walburn, the school counselor. She and Payne clash over his style of training the cadets.
*
William Hickey as Dr. Phillips, the headmaster of the school. He takes little interest in the cadets and asks Payne to keep them out of his way.
*
Steven Martini as Cadet Alex J. Stone, a rebellious teenager with no respect for authority. He opposes Payne's hardline approach to training and actively works to get rid of Payne.
*
Michael Ironside
Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters.
E ...
as
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
Stone, Alex's adoptive father. He's an alcoholic who abuses Alex.
*
Orlando Brown as Cadet Kevin "Tiger" Dunn, an orphan adopted by the school and raised by Emily Walburn. The youngest of the cadets, he struggles to keep up with the others and find his place.
*
Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...
as
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Elias Decker, Payne's former commanding officer.
*
Andrew Harrison Leeds
Andrew Leeds is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is known for his portrayal of Josh on ''Cristela'', Christopher Pelant on ''Bones'', and David Clarke on ''Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist.'' He is also in the Main Company of the sketch co ...
as Cadet Dotson, a
brown-noser who is cadet squad leader.
*
Damien Dante Wayans
Damien Dante Wayans (born April 29, 1980) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer and director. He is a member of the Wayans family.
Early life
Wayans was born in New York City, he is the nephew of the Wayans Siblings, which consists of ...
as Cadet Dwight "D" Williams
*
Chris Owen as Cadet Wuliger
*
Stephen Coleman
Stephen Coleman (born January 29, 1973) is an American film orchestrator and conductor. He collaborated with Ramin Djawadi on the '' Person of Interest'' soundtrack, and conducted and orchestrated the score of '' The Predator'' (composed by Hen ...
as Cadet Leland
* Mark Madison as Cadet Fox
* Peyton Chesson-Fohl as Cadet
Sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
Johnson
*
Bam Bam Bigelow
Scott Charles Bigelow (September 1, 1961 – January 19, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Bam Bam Bigelow. Recognizable by his close to 400-pound frame and the distinctive flame tattoo that spanned most ...
as Biker. He is hired by the cadets to confront Payne and intimidate him into leaving.
*
George Cheung
George Kee Cheung is a Hong Kong actor and stuntman with an extensive career in American television and film dating back to 1975, often playing Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mongolian parts. His career has focused primarily on televis ...
as
Vietcong
,
, war = the Vietnam War
, image = FNL Flag.svg
, caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green.
, active ...
Guerrilla from Major Payne's Daydream
* R. Stephen Wiles as Cadet Heathcoat
* R. J. Knoll as Blind New Cadet
Filming
Major Payne was filmed at the Miller School in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Reception
Review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gave the film an approval rating of 29% based on 14 reviews.
Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote, "While ''Major Payne'' is too predictable for most adults, it's an ideal entertainment for youthful audiences that allows Damon Wayans to be at his best in a dream part."
Caryn James
Caryn A. James (born Caryn A. Fuoroli) is an American film critic, journalist, university lecturer and writer.
Biography
James is one of at least three children born to James M. Fuoroli Sr. and Joan A. Ford. A native of Providence, Rhode Islan ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote, "Though the movie is rarely more clever than its title, Mr. Wayans gives the dark cartoonish comedy an irreverent edge."
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' rated it 3/4 stars
and called it a smart and funny satire of military films:
The key to this kind of comedy is to go all the way with it, and Wayans creates a comic character out of narrowness, obsession, and blind commitment. Of course the arc of the storyline is familiar; we know the pretty teacher will soften him, and that he will grow fond of the cadets, and no prizes for guessing who wins the big all-Virginia ROTC 'sic''.html"_;"title="sic.html"_;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html"_;"title="'sic">'sic''competition..._Wayans_is_one_of_the_most_talented_comic_actors_around,_especially_when_he_lets_go_and_swings_for_the_fences.
_Box_office
The_film_debuted_at_number_2_at_the_US_box_office_behind_''Outbreak_(film).html" "title="sic">'sic''.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''competition... Wayans is one of the most talented comic actors around, especially when he lets go and swings for the fences.
Box office
The film debuted at number 2 at the US box office behind ''Outbreak (film)">Outbreak
In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...
'' with a gross of $7 million on its opening weekend.
''Major Payne'' went on to gross $30.1 million worldwide.
*
*
{{Nick Castle
1995 films
1995 comedy films
American comedy films
Remakes of American films
1990s English-language films
Films about educators
Universal Pictures films