Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) August 31, 2006
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Barry Levinson
Back when this film was released in 1987, Robin Williams was still very much the ‘funny guy’ in the eyes of Hollywood. This Vietnam War movie was rewritten especially for his comic gifts, and it certainly allows him a wide berth in which to perform. But importantly, this role foreshadows some of the more emotional, dramtic characters he would later play in movies such as Good Will Hunting or Patch Adams, before moving on to recent darker parts in One Hour Photo, Insomnia, and the upcoming The Night Listener.
Set during the middle of the war, Williams is Adrian Cronauer, a comic DJ who is shipped over from Crete to boost morale at the Allied Forces Radio station. His offbeat style and inability to obey programming rules makes him popular with the troops, but despised by the stations superior officers. However it isn’t long before the war starts to catch up with him, and he finds himself befriending those hurt most by the fighting, the Vietnamese people.
The story is fairly simple, but that’s no problem in a film as entertaining & poignant as this. Robin Williams is simply brilliant and completely believable as the wacky DJ, with all of the broadcast scenes reportedly being ad-libbed. Just as enjoyable are the supporting characters played by the likes of Forrest Whitaker, Robert Wuhl, and especially Bruno Kirby who plays the uptight lieutenant with a desire to be funny perfectly (the scene where he goes on-air in place of Cronauer is one of the films highlights).
What makes the movie special however, is the insight into Vietnam and the people living there. We see how although Cronauer’s radio show brings joy to the troops, it is only a facade that hides the truth of the situation – that things are on the brink of despair. And the constant news censorship only diverts the people further from what’s really going on. This is no better reflected than in the scene where we see Vietnamese villages being bombed, and the people being shot, all set to the calming sounds of Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World’.
As I’ve already mentioned, this is Robin Williams’ movie, and certainly one of his strongest and most memorable. It looks like he’s coming back around to straight comic roles after this years family comedy RV, and there’s even a Mrs Doubtfire 2 in the works. But it seems unlikely he’ll ever manage to best this performance on either a comic, or a dramatic level.
Comments»
nice movie, poor review
Nice review, poor comment.
Was it really worth the effort posting that without actually saying what your problem with the review is? I quite enjoyed it personally
Well this was early days for me (August of last year) so I’ll admit that it’s not my best work. But I’ve been writing on here consistantly since then and think (hope) my work has gotten better with time.
I was going to delete your comment, but decided that by inviting anyone to leave messages on my posts I left the gates open for both positive and negative opinons. It would be wrong to censor the bad comments and leave the rest - but if you are planning on writing any more comments I emplore you to at least explain your opinion. Four words will never be enough.
And cheers for the kudos Colin.