GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM
**1/2 out of *****

Genres
Comedy
Drama
War

1987
Directed by
Barry Levinson
Written by
Mitch Markowitz
Cast
Robin Williams .... A1C Adrian Cronauer
Forest Whitaker .... Pfc. Edward Montesque Garlick
Tung Thanh Tran .... Tuan
Chintara Sukapatana .... Trinh
Bruno Kirby ... 2nd Lt. Steven Hauk
Robert Wuhl .... SSgt. Marty Lee Dreiwitz
J.T. Walsh .... Sgt. Maj. Phillip 'Dick' Dickerson
Noble Willingham .... Brig. Gen. Taylor
Richard Edson .... Pvt. Abersold
Juney Smith .... Sgt. Phil McPherson
Richard Portnow .... Dan 'The Man' Levitan
Floyd Vivino .... Eddie Kirk
Cu Ba Nguyen .... Jimmy Wah

Over the years there have been many starring vehicles some of which have failed while others were wildly successful. A 'vehicle' is a term used in the movie world that describes a film which is tailor made for a particular star. It usually consists of a character and set-up that is best suited to exploit the actor's strengths. Films such as Beverly Hills Cop (1984) for Eddie Murphy is a good example, others include School of Rock (2003) for Jack Black and See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) for Richard Pryor (and also Gene Wilder). Good Morning, Vietnam was exactly that for comedian Robin Williams and suited his brand of insane jabber and hyper personality. Sure he'd done several other films prior to this one, but none more suited directly for him than this, what better character to portray Williams' personality through than a radio disc jockey? Good Morning, Vietnam was a breakout hit for the comedian and basically made him a household name. While set in 1960's Vietnam the film has a 1980's feel about it, especially the comedy which is basically highlights from Williams' own stand-up show re-tooled for this film. To add realism all of the on-air scenes were ad-libbed, that lends itself well to the scenes as it feels natural and un-scripted just like a live-to-air radio show should be.

Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams), an Air Force disc jockey, gets shipped to Vietnam, his mission is to bring a new brand of humor to the morning radio show to help boost troop morale. But his brand of in-your-face humour doesn't appeal to everyone, especially his superiors Lieutenant Hauk (Bruno Kirby) and Sergeant Major Dickerson (J.T. Walsh) who try and sideline him every opportunity they get. While in Vietnam Cronauer falls for a local Vietnamese girl Tuan (Tung Thanh Tran) and sees the true horror of war, but don't let that heavy stuff fool you that was just added in because Williams doing near two hours of ad-lib funny stuff gets a bit tiring.

The script isn't exactly literary writing at its best, the plot is thinner than wafer, the characters are about as cliché as one can get and the 'horrors of war' stuff is so heavy handed you wonder sometimes what the filmmaker's were thinking. But a story is still better than no story. Besides you really have to look at this film for what it truly is; it's not really an anti-war statement it's a way for Williams' talent to shine on the screen. It's a true vanity project in every sense of the word, one that has aged poorly as most of the jokes generate a minor chuckle, while they probably would have caused hysteria back in 1987. I can only assume, since I never saw the movie when it originally came out because I was a youngster still playing with Star Wars toys and watching Masters of the Universe (1987) and The Transformers (1984), 'R-rated' films were not introduced to me until later in life. But judging from the fact that Williams received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor provides a small indication of the film's popularity. Watching it today all I can say is that it's quite weak and relies too heavily on Williams to carry the whole film when in reality a few minutes is all he can do (I don't deny the genius of his comedy I for one think his Live on Broadway (2002) stand-up special is exceptionally funny).

Like most other vehicles the lead actor has a sort of sidekick that propels him from one scene to the next, in this one it's Private Garlick played by Forest Whitaker who also provides some comic relief mainly as the kind-hearted oaf. He's basically there to make Williams look good all the time but when the time comes, his character steps up in a big way late in the game and steers our hero back in the right direction.

Good Morning, Vietnam has a simple story that's fairly predicable, a collection of one-dimensional cliché supporting players and a lot of Robin Williams talking trash and occasionally showing emotion but only when the script dictates. If you loved this film back in the day then you'll probably still enjoy it, it's an interesting look at the early days of the career of comedy's hairiest man. Newcomers will likely get bored quickly, especially those used to the cruder comedies of today.

Finger_Of_DOOM's reviews also appear on DVD Compare, where they include details of the DVD release. For this review click here.

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