Review of Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) by Dawdlingpoet — 22 Nov 2021

This is quite a well known film, one I'd been aware of for many years but hadn't actually sat down to watch in full before. I can see why people like it, as it has an interesting mix of both comedy and drama, being almost painfully serious in some scenes and very irreverantly, did he just say that? type silly in others.

This won't be to everyones tastes but I found it pretty entertaining. The story is pretty easy to follow, if a bit predictable perhaps, although im led to believe that its based on a true story, which is interesting but I don't know enough details to be able to ascertain to what extent this is a true story. I found it to be an entertaining watch - its surprising that Adrian is allowed to stay as DJ for so long, given his flagrant shrugging off of the rules.

It'd be true to say that the story is a bit worthy perhaps - the local eccentric rebellious American sees what the pompous authority figures don't see, the human side to war and decides to arm the local community, tries to warn people about whats going on but is challenged and complained about. Obviously he's coming from things at a different perspective than others - he's an underdog character, which seems to be a typically popular character trait when it comes to American films and perhaps in American society in general. I have to say, I did find myself rooting for Aidan - he's irreverant and pushes the boundaries but, of course, he doesn't mean any real harm and is shown to be very popular with the troops, improving the morale. The main plus point being that he tries to arm the local community, not physically with weapons or militarily but by teaching them English in quite a witty way, to hopefully make them seem more assertive, after witnessing them struggle to stand up for themselves against other Americans.

There is some fairly witty dialogue present, although I wouldn't say this is a film to watch and analyse to very many levels, if you know what I mean. I'd say this is more of a basic general watch - you can sit back, switch your brain off a bit and enjoy it for what it is. If you like comedy that pokes fun at somewhat pompous authority figures, irreverant, erratic, visual comedy then you'll likely enjoy this but it won't be for everyone. I could again make comparisons with it to the Police Academy films, in terms of the sort of comic nature of the characters and the tone of the comedy, although unlike the Police Academy films, there's definitely a serious side to the storyline as well. I suppose it reminded me of the character in the Police Academy films who is a voice contortionist, throwing his voice around a lot as Adrian pretends to hold conversations with other people while on air, when of course in reality its all him - you could call it professional improvisation, or some may think more along the line of irritatingly hyperactive?.

I particularly enjoyed the scenes involving Adrian and Edward Garlick - it was interesting seeing Forest Whitaker in a role from back then (this film dates from 1987) and the way they interacted, it seemed they had an unspoken mutual respect for each other which came across well. This film covers some important messages and is amusing in parts but its also perhaps a little predictable, although it feels a little harsh to say so given the fact its apparently based on a true story and also I felt the ending arrived frustratingly suddenly. People could also criticise the fact that the violence tended to be shown a lot more frankly in relation to the Vietnamese, moreso than the Americans, although perhaps that is more fair than if an American film had portrayed themselves to be the main victims of that war? as I say, I don't think its a film to really over analyse. I also felt that the authority figures came across as perhaps a bit 2D, there were stereotypes at play that maybe wasn't entirely fair but I don't know a great deal about the subject to say with any real expert knowledge.

Overall yes, I would recommend this film.