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.

It finally hit me when I watched Good Morning Vietnam what this film reminded me of. It was the famous Preston Sturges classic, Sullivan's Travels which coincidentally as it turns out is one of my favorite films.

Both the real life Adrian Cronauer and Joel McCrea's fictional John L. Sullivan have to come to the same realization, that what they do matters a great deal. In Sullivan's Travels it's to the movie going public in general, in the case of Cronauer it's to the GIs in Vietnam stuck in a war where no one could ever know who the enemy was. A few laughs from a comic genius was necessary to get them through the day in their very cockeyed world.

Adrian Cronauer was a real life person, but if he didn't bear a resemblance to Robin Williams, he should have. One of the great comic masters of any era in entertainment, Robin Williams is given full range for his zany sense of humor to work its magic with Cronauer. He's ably abetted and assisted by the other staff members of Armed Forces Radio Forest Whitaker and Robert Wuhl. Bruno Kirby is great as the clueless lieutenant in charge and so is J.T. Walsh who represents the limits of the military mind as the sergeant major out to get Williams by hook or very dirty crook.

Williams himself doesn't understand the complexities of the Vietnam situation. That fact is brought home to him graphically when he's betrayed by his own innate decency.

Next to Williams my favorite in the cast is Noble Willingham who plays the general who has overall charge of Armed Forces Radio there. He's a tough, but compassionate military man, the exact opposite of J.T. Walsh whom he has to reign in.

Good Morning Vietnam is a frank portrayal of a war experience told with humor and irony through the eyes of Robin Williams.

Preston Sturges would have absolutely adored this film.

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

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.

Vietnam without a doubt was a dark period in our history.Any comedy film surrounding Vietnam would indeed have to be done delicately.This movie pulls it off.What amazes me most about the film is the flawless, improvisational radio dialog from Robin Williams.This,as most of you may know,was completely unscripted to allow Williams an opportunity to work his magic.Also,it had to be timely,for the movie is,of course,set in 1965.The fact that he was able to do this is nothing short of amazing.The supporting cast was also incredible,with great performances by Forrest Whitaker,Bruno Kirby,and the late J.T.Walsh as "Sergeant Major Dickerson",the man you love to hate.Although some of the horror that was Vietnam is here,it's only giving you a taste of it,as it concentrates more on the Williams character's quest to make our beloved soldiers forget their horror,at least for a while.Highly recommended.