Down Periscope (1996)

"...screwball comedy...funny stuff.  Efilmcritic.com
"...Grammer exhibits a big screen presence.  James Berardinelli's ReelViews

Editor's Note Kelsey Grammar plays a wayward Navy officer, Tom Dodge, who is notorious throughout the Navy for having responded to a close call involving a Russian submarine by getting drunk and tattooing "welcome aboard" on an unmentionable appendage. He gets assigned by Admiral Winslow (Rip Torn) to command his own submarine; unfortunately, this sub is a rusting 1958 diesel model that the Navy wants to engage in war games to find out if it could inflict any damage. The assumption is, this sub is comparable to those the Russians are selling to renegade Iraqi and Libyan commanders, who might use them on suicide missions against the US. Once on board, we meet the cast of quirky characters who will man this clunker, including a hyper, mutinous Rob Schneider as second in command, Harland Williams as the copulating whale-impersonating radar operater Sonar, and Lauren Holly as the token female officer. The slapstick ensues as this group of underdogs attempt to pull off the impossible, the completion of which will determine Dodge's future career.

	Bruce Dern
	Kelsey Grammer
	Lauren Holly
	Rob Schneider
	William H. Macy
	Armen Minasian - Editor
	David S. Ward - Director
	Hugh Wilson - Writer
	Jack Cummins - Executive Producer
	Randy Edelman - Musical Score
	Robert Lawrence - Producer
	Victor Hammer - Cinematographer

Inept Navy Lieutenant Tom Dodge has been given one last chance to clean up his record. But thanks to his nemesis, Admiral Graham, he is assigned the leadership of The Stingray, a rusty, beat-up, creaky submarine, that will play the role of the enemy in a series of practice war games. Dodge's unenviable task is made worse when he meets his crew, an eccentric, incompetent bunch that includes a flatulent cook and an accident-prone electrician. Also, as an experiment in sexual integration, a woman has come onboard to join these misfits.| Dodge must find a way to shape up this motley crew, if he's ever going to prove his worth to Graham, the Navy -- and himself. Sight and Sound
"...Easy to enjoy..." 08/01/1996 p.49-50

Variety
"...Fun....It's good-natured, innocuous frivolity that should raise a few smiles..." 03/04/1996

Chicago Sun-Times
"...Grammar is laid back and likable..." 03/01/1996 p.33

San Francisco Chronicle 7 of 10
Down Periscope, now out on video, makes a surprisingly successful launch, with plenty of brisk one-liners and a promising set-up. But after that auspicious opening, it sinks. - Edward Guthmann

Movie Eye 6 of 10
A directionless and doomed diversion. Grammer's naval military mishap is a sinking ship both literally and figuratively. - Frank Ochieng