Good Morning, Vietnam

There never has been, and probably never will be, another film which shows both sides of Williams to such a great degree.

As the wise-cracking disc-jockey, Williams shows his undisputed wild comedic talent, but the bomb scene and scenes of rural Vietnam life, truly allow Williams to such his dramatic acting ability. They look at the conflict, without getting in too deep.

A superb cast as well including Bruno Kirby and the late great J.T. Walsh gives a solid backdrop, and are beautiful foils to Williams.

Overall, a wonderful movie, add it to your collection.

Despite being a fan of Robin Williams' unique brand of scattershot, stream-of-consciousness comedy, I had never seen "Good Morning, Vietnam" all the way through. While I am glad to have finally checked that off my watch list, I do have to say that it underwhelmed me a bit, especially when it comes to any historical or cultural significance outside of its leading man.

For a very basic overview, "Good Morning, Vietnam" tells the story of Adrian Cronauer (Williams), an Army Radio DJ assigned to a Vietnam station in 1965. While his non-conformist attitude ruffles the feathers of the higher-ups--especially Lt. Hauk (Bruno Kirby)--he quickly inspires fellow soldiers in every corner of the conflict.

There is absolutely no doubt or denying that "Good Morning, Vietnam" sees Williams at perhaps the peak of his comedic zenith. Every single scene of him DJ-ing the station will have you laughing out loud. His fast-talking, reference-alluding style is so unique that it's sort of a one-of-a-kind experience. Personally, I very much consider this entire film to be little more than a showcase for his talents.

Which leads me to the unfortunate part of this experience for me: aside from Williams, I really didn't get much else out of "Good Morning, Vietnam". While it is pretty clear what the writers and director Barry Levinson are trying to accomplish character-wise, it all seems a bit cloying, predictable, and sometimes even a bit cartoonish. The Army is inflexible, Williams is the fly in the ointment, and we all bemoan the pointlessness of the whole ordeal. Maybe this all hit a little closer to home in 1987, but watching in 2020 it felt a bit overcooked in terms of stereotypes.

Overall, though, the sheer presence of Williams makes this a very watchable film, albeit perhaps a bit overrated from a historical perspective. Come for Williams, but your mileage may vary regarding the other material here.

Robbin Williams gives the performance of his life, in this funny, yet politically motivated movie, on the no (official) news or miss-information given out (to the troops) at the time of the most controversial conflict of the modern era. A strong supporting cast, including a young Forrest Whitaker are a bonus but the overall story is a bit thin and the love interest (for me) is not fully developed.

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

A lighthearted but deadly serious anti-war film, actually. This is of course a Robin Williams movie so that it is his schtick, brilliant and inspired, that makes it soar. The best of it, including the famous riff when he first gets on the air as the new Saigon DJ, is hilarious and breathtaking. There is a plot, sort of, as he goes through a rise and fall at the military radio station, but it's more about his shining moments behind the microphone than anything else.

The "else" in this movie is, however, most of the movie. That is, Williams has a serious role as an offbeat renegade in a chaotic world surrounded by a range of sensible and very insensible officers and colleagues. At the most extreme, when we see a Vietnamese village firebombed while Louis Armstrong sings "It's a Wonderful World," the sentiment is so cloying it makes you cry, and you're not sure why because you know it's just over the top manipulation. Likewise when Williams is caught in a traffic jam with other military vehicles and he warms up the soldiers by humanizing everyone and making them feel like they really should be back home. Which they should be, as we know in retrospect.

So the movie has another side that's kind of sentimental and simplistic, whatever its good pacifist intentions. Williams is a decent actor—I'm not one of those who thinks he's brilliant outside of his funny roles—and so it holds up pretty well. But the plot line keeps the movie from really finding pathos, or comedy, or warmth, or tragedy of a dramatic kind, in the scenes outside the radio station. And I think that's what it intended.

For those who don't know, it's worth adding that the main character, Adrian Cronauer, was a real person, and still is—he's a staunch Republican (Williams was not, to be sure) and an innovator in radio in Vietnam. He also co-wrote the screenplay, I assume working on the scenes that he would know best rather than the larger saccharine plot aspects. A great story, and the real Cronauer deserves credit for inspiring it, and helping it along. He was, along with most of us, "Godsmacked" when he heard the news of Williams's death.

Let me be perfectly frank and say right away that I watched this to experience Robin Williams at his best. That guy has so much comedic talent, it's unreal. I mostly got what I expected from this movie... but I found that it also contained some truths about the Vietnam war. The movie has plenty to offer on both fronts. Any fan of Williams' comedy will definitely enjoy it, and I think most war-movie buffs will too... if they can keep an open mind, and accept a slightly different approach to the genre. The way the seriousness of war is underplayed for most of the film really works to enhance the effect of it when it is shoved right in our faces, when we are forced to acknowledge it. We forget how serious and all-consuming war is, just like Adrian had(not necessarily the real one, I know nothing of him except of what the film told me, and as far as I understand, that's not that accurate a portrayal of him), only to be confronted with it. More effective than several big war movies. The plot is very good. The pacing is great, the movie keeps moving pretty much all through the film. The characters are well-written and credible. The acting is good pretty much all-round, and Williams proves once again that he can do drama just as well as comedy. The humor is typical Robin Williams. A very good film, and an unusual war movie. I recommend this to fans of Robin Williams and war movies. 7/10