Review of Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) by Filipeneto — 17 Jan 2022

This film is a comedy set in wartime and based, very fictionally, on the life of a real person, radio announcer Adrian Cronauer, who spent some time in South Vietnam, in Saigon, in the service of USAF Military Radio. Despite the truthful bases, most of the things we see in the movie are fiction, as Cronauer himself mentioned. However, without this fictional component, I doubt the film would have been as successful.

The film's story begins with Cronauer's arrival in Saigon to take up a radio job. He will soon capture the soldiers' sympathies, with his contagious joy and a rebellious, sharp and irresistible sense of humor. However, it also becomes evident that he will not be easy to control, and high ranks will have difficulties in dealing with him and imposing the limits they think he must respect. At the same time, he will socialize with the Vietnamese, learn local customs and even teach English. But the enemy is subversive, and not even in the city they can know where he will attack, or where he will be.

Despite being a comedy, the film does not treat war lightly. There are several moments when we feel that danger lurks, and enemy agents can be anywhere. Despite the way Cronauer wins friends, the grim faces of the population reveal the prevailing antipathy, understandable among a population that feels that their land has been occupied by foreigners who, supposedly, came to help them defend themselves, but who then treat them with suspicion, when not with violence. The film paints an acidic portrayal of the war in Vietnam, with cruelties committed by both sides. By the way, there is one scene that is particularly critical, and where war scenes are accompanied by the Louis Armstrong song “What a Wonderful World”. To be more ironic, it's impossible.

Robin Williams was the ideal man to bring Cronauer to life, and the right person to revive his sense of humor. With this character, Williams was able to let his imagination run wild and invent the craziest puns and jokes. It is not by chance that the film became a classic of the 80s comedy, and one of the most memorable films of this actor's career. With him, we have an excellent Forest Whitaker, a great Robert Wuhl and an obnoxious, but equally funny, Bruno Kirby. The film also features splendid collaborations by Tom T. Tran, Noble Willingham and J.T. Walsh.

Technically, the film doesn't have any major demerits, but it knows how to keep a low profile, leaving humor to take center stage. Even so, I think it's fair to highlight the exquisite quality of the visual and special effects and the exceptional soundtrack, with a series of songs that we can easily recognize. Set in a military context, the film has good props, costumes and sets that automatically transport us to that environment and period. Finally, a word of praise for the cinematography and editing.