Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writer:

Mitch Markowitz (written by)

Release Date:

15 January 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Tagline:

Time to rock it from the Delta to the DMZ!

Plot:

An unorthodox and irreverent DJ begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the US Armed Services Radio station in Vietnam.

Plot Keywords:

Beer | Based On Distorted Reality | Bicycle | Brother Sister Relationship | U.S. Army

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Robin Williams	...	Adrian Cronauer
Forest Whitaker	...	Edward Garlick
Tung Thanh Tran	...	Tuan
Chintara Sukapatana	...	Trinh
Bruno Kirby	...	Lt. Steven Hauk
Robert Wuhl	...	Marty Lee Dreiwitz
J.T. Walsh	...	Sgt. Major Dickerson
Noble Willingham	...	Gen. Taylor
Richard Edson	...	Pvt. Abersold
Juney Smith	...	Phil McPherson
Richard Portnow	...	Dan 'The Man' Levitan
Floyd Vivino	...	Eddie Kirk
Cu Ba Nguyen	...	Jimmy Wah
Dan Stanton	...	Censor #1 (as Dan R. Stanton)
Don Stanton	...	Censor #2 (as Don E. Stanton)

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #28046) | Brazil:Livre (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

The script went through a number of revisions after it was originally drafted by Adrian Cronauer in 1979. Cronauer first pitched it as a TV series, then a Movie-of-the-Week. It was the latter treatment that landed in the lap of 'Robin Williams', who realized the DJ role would be the perfect outlet for his brand of comedy. The original treatment by Cronauer was completely re-tooled for Williams.

Goofs:

The movie was filmed in Bangkok, Thailand, where the traffic is set on the left. In a scene of traffic in a crossing, cars are seen entering a two-lane street in clearly the wrong lane, as you see directing arrows on the tarmac facing the other way.

Quotes:

Dickerson: You better not even come within range of anything that happens or your ass is grass, and I'm a lawn mower.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I Got You (I Feel Good)

Robin Williams does his thing well in this comedy that makes us think. ***1/2 (out of four)

GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM / (1987) ***1/2 (out of four)

By Blake French:

Robin Williams is about as good as they come at doing stand up comedy, and in "Good Morning, Vietnam" director Berry Levinson gives him everything he needs to make the film go above and beyond the average satire. From his outgoing sense of humor, to his aggressive personality, and dozens of vocal effects, he portrays his character with interactive zest. Who can resist the awakening voice of Williams on the radio yelling "Good Morning Vietnam." This is a film that conquers the test of time.

"Good Morning, Vietnam" tells the story of a lively disc jockey who gets a job on Armed Forced Radio during the Vietnam War. Robin Williams is the fast-talking Adrian Cronauer, and who better to play the part than he. Although this character is one-dimensional (we are never informed on his background, marital status, where he comes from, what he did before we meet), as the movie continues he gradually begins to change into a deeper, more meaningful person.

The story moves along smoothly; the narrative through-line is consistent as each scene relates to the next. Although little momentum or suspense can be noticed, the film does have several underlining themes, often viewed upon in a Stanley Kubrick style: sarcastic and uncompromising. We see how much a little humor and jazz can greatly enlighten the hard-core atmosphere of the military during Vietnam, and how it can thoroughly confuse the bleeding heart officials.

The film hangs by the skin of its teeth for active conflict tension. Beyond people objecting to the actions of Williams' character, there is just not a lot of tension within the story, and at some points my interest wandered. "Good Morning, Vietnam" is merely a portrait of Robin Williams releasing his perennial comedy, and unfortunately that does happen to get old quite quickly; the majority of an audience can only watch the humor for so long until it becomes old and somewhat stale.

"Good Morning, Vietnam" is definitely not a flawless film, but we do empathize for the main character, the scenes effectively capture the attitude and mood during the war, and the dialogue and writing feel accurate and involving. Barry Levinson has directed a marvelous comedy, one that is not all about making us laugh, but also makes us think.