Review of Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) by Movie G — 23 Aug 2011

Between 1986 and 1989 was like a Vietnam War movie overload. There was Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill, The Casualties Of War and even the TV show Tour Of Duty (which is awesome if you haven't seen it), which were all gritty, superrealistic, psychological action epics. The funny thing though is that of any Vietnam movie from this period it was the comedy Good Morning Vietnam that had the most impact on me.

First and foremost, Robin Williams steals the show. He is this movie. He is Adrian Cronauer (I don't know if that spelling is correct). It's arguably his greatest performance and one of my personal favourites. The role was made for him and he knows it.

The movie is about a new DJ (Williams) who comes to Vietnam to serve for the military radio station, but isn't quite what the military wants. He's loud, funny, and plays GASP! Rock & Roll. His superiors hate him but he quickly becomes a hit with the troops. The plots seems simple but it gets a lot deeper and more emotional if you give it the chance.

For anyone who didn't know, the Vietnam War wasn't too popular, both with the people at home and the troops fighting. Cronauer knows this and is only trying to help the troops have a little fun before the possibly die fighting in a war they don't support. There's one scene in particular where he's driving through the city in a jeep and comes up on a traffic jam. He starts entertaining the troops and you can tell it just makes there day. He asks for there names and hometowns so he can play there favourite songs on the radio before they go into battle. I don't really know how to describe the scene, I just find it tremendously sad.

The film also has a lot of antiwar messages thrown into it aswell. From the showing of the bar being bombed, to the famous death montage to 'What A Wonderful World' its definately trying to say something.

While the film is a drama at heart it still has its share of laughs, from the hilarious owner of the bar, to Williams teaching a bunch of Vietnamese civillians American terms that are colourful to say the least, its a fun movie.

All in all Good Morning Vietnam didn't really achieve the status I think it should have. Its a comedic masterpiece and worth viewing just to see Robin Williams be, well pretty much Robin Williams.