Why I miss Goldie Hawn at the movies

Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin

Last night my girlfriend and I indulged in a double feature of some classic Goldie Hawn movies: the 1978 comedy Foul Play (opposite Chevy Chase) and her Oscar nominated lead role in Private Benjamin (1980).

I've always enjoyed Hawn's work -- even if it was only sporadically great -- because she had such a unique and incredibly appealing persona and it's a shame she has pretty much retired from acting.

Of course, sadly, plastic surgery has both made her a subject of ridicule and quite possibly has ruined her career. If you caught a glimpse of her at the Academy Awards earlier this year you probably know what I mean.

It doesn't help that since the 90s she's starred in a string of expensive flops, including the infamous disaster Town and Country, which also cut short Warren Beatty's legendary film career.

Still her work in the 70s and 80s (and in the occasional 90s hit like Death Becomes Her) is a delight and sneaky smart.

Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase in Foul Play

Hawn understood what people like Anna Faris and Jessica Simpson don't -- that you can play someone who appears to be ditzy on the surface with real depth and brains. Her characters were plucky and determined and ultimately empowered. In Private Benjamin in particular, she really taps into some interesting themes about the relationships between women and the men in their lives.

In Foul Play (and later in Seems Like Old Times), Hawn had great romantic chemistry with one of my all-time favorite comedy idols, Chevy Chase.

The movie is a fast-paced and funny homage to classic Hitchcock with a dash of screwball comedy. Chase never quite generated these kinds of sparks with a female co-star again. They seemed to really be falling for each other.

Hawn's work was also strong in the smart politically-minded 1975 satire Shampoo, in which she plays one of the many women who are involved with Warren Beatty's Lothario hairdresser. Although her role in that underrated hit is not as flashy as Julie Christie's or Lee Grant's, she holds her own as a woman fed up with being under-appreciated.

Although some of her roles may now seem quaint or like precursors to the career of say, Reese Witherspoon, I don't think that gives Goldie Hawn quite the credit she deserves. She carved out a totally credible and distinct comedic persona (and got top billing) at a time when the genre was completely dominated by men and their sensibilities.

And for all their bubbly infectiousness, Hawn's character's weren't wimps or pushovers. They were take-charge women who find happiness on their own terms. For instance, in Seems Like Old Times, she is a fiercely progressive attorney and in Wildcats she's a football coach. That's some range!

The ending of Private Benjamin, which is ostensibly a mainstream fish-out-of-water comedy, has a real poignancy to it. I won't spoil it, but I think that the movie has more on its mind that some army barracks hi-jinks.

Even if her face is currently distorted almost beyond recognition, I miss Goldie Hawn's persona at the movies and I wish there was some way she could make a comeback.

Well, we'll always have Housesitter.