Review of Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) by Luke B — 02 Sep 2008

The playful side of war. Well not exactly, but it does show how one man can bring just a tiny bit of joy to those in terrible times. Williams offers the escapism so deserved by the troops and the film details his struggles with his superiors.

Though he doesn't struggle too much. The most interesting aspects are his interaction with the Vietnamese and it builds a wonderful amount of emotional tension. Williams sometimes is TOO Robin Williams, his ad libbing sometimes becoming tiresome but he really excels in capturing the harder moments of acting such as the bombing scene and directly afterwards.

The actual battle scenes are few but get to the horrific point. Uplifting but without showing in too much detail what the soldiers, who respect and enjoy Williams radio shows, are going through it's hard to imagine exactly how important his character is without imaging other films.