For the consistent readers of my reviews, you have probably figured out it is my style to put a little bit of my personal life in each.
In the wake of Robin Williams’s death, I drew parallels to a friend of mine who took his own life in similar fashion. Robin Williams was a comedian, an improvisor of great distinction, and oscar winning actor. My friend was a comedian of his own crazy genius and a great improvisor as well. And I have been doing comedy, improv and otherwise for 17 years. That’s how I landed this gig writing reviews even.
So the parallels, while nowhere comparable in terms of scale and reach, reverberated with me and really with the whole comedy community in Seattle, so it’s time to go back and watch something great from the past.
The man himself.
The Robin Williams film I remember the most, the one that has the biggest significance to me, is a movie about Vietnam that might not hold the gravitas for the general reader of SonyRumors as it would for the public who saw it in 1987. The historical references might possibly breeze right by a young person for no other reason than time moves on. But see this movie anyway. Who cares if it’s older than many people reading this right now. Good is good. And it’s possibly new to you.
Depicting a very fictionalized account of the real life, former military radio DJ, Adrian Cronauer, Robin Williams shows a bit of everything that made him a star. I say very fictionalized because the real Cronauer has publicly stated that if he did half of the things Robin Williams does in his version, he’d still be in military prison today. And thus goes my argument for why I have a mixed and sometimes hypocritical relationship to movies based on historical figures and events. Like, I’d never watch Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor to learn anything about anything. But this doesn’t mean Good Morning Vietnam isn’t a great movie or isn’t without something important to be learned. The real life Cronauer has said it’s the first movie he’s seen which depicts the GI’s like normal people, not just drunken, hopped up violence junkies.
Guess who’s not a comedian.
Arriving in Vietnam at the point when President Johnson is expanding troop deployment, Adrian Cronauer is brought in by the base’s commanding general to cheer up the troops. Cronauer’s humor on the air will act as a counterpoint to the death surrounding. But who is Cronauer? Even before meeting his commanding officer, he is chasing down every Vietnamese young lady he can find to go on a date. And this is what leads him start teaching an English class in his spare time. Setting his sights on a date with Vietnamese girl, Trinh, our intrepid DJ must first get past her protective brother Tuan who warns him about the Vietnamese customs: their first date is accompanied by about 10 members of the extended family as they explore Saigon’s outdoor markets.
In the military side of Adrian’s universe he has the protection of Edward Garlick (a young Forrest Whitaker) who does his best to keep Adrian from getting in trouble. Which is not easy since by the book and very angry Sgt. Major Dickerson has no place for unprofessional, un-military personnel such as Cronauer. And in this way Good Morning Vietnam plays like M*A*S*H – a fish out of water type story of a person so talented at what they do, they get away with almost anything. Except Good Morning Vietnam is not as biting a satire. Nor is it as serious and in your face as movies like Platoon. It exists somewhere in between and somehow the results are appropriately entertaining and meaningful.
Robin Williams’s sets the stage for his manic genius to work when flipping this switch on the broadcast signal the first time. Sending out a blistering set of improvised characters and nonsense, appropriately set in the 1960’s Vietnam era, complete with Ethel Merman, Lawrence Welk, and Richard Nixon references, Williams shows just how truly talented and special his brain was. From what I read, his DJ’ing segments were all ad libbed. As was his moment entertaining the troops in a traffic jam. I recognized some of the jokes from stand up bits he’s done in the past so it’s clear he was riffing right then. Knowing that Robin Williams in real life regularly travelled to entertain our soldiers as part of the USO – watching this scene today has a resonating poignancy that it otherwise wouldn’t when I first saw it some 27 years ago.
May I borrow your… just kidding. I can be serious.
The film is not without its fair share of drama. Cronauer witnesses first hand a terrorist bombing. His quick wit and humor are of no use as he tends to the victims and the dead. The best moment in the film is watching him go directly on the air after being told not to report the explosion he was just a part of. Some of Williams’s finest acting appears as he struggles to improvise characters whilst deciding how to hold in the or not hold in the censored news. It’s a moment of great nuance and shows the true range Robin Williams had within him.
Is he consistently amazing? No. Some of the improvisations seem a little extra rough or out of place and an occasional moment is awkward, but as a document of all the range of styles Robin Williams tackled in his career, Good Morning Vietnam contains every one and contains them all done very well. From the wackadoodle humor that was a hallmark of his comedy career to the raw pain and emotion that showed up in films like What Dreams May Come. Additionally there’s the meta-level of truth about Robin’s life caring for the troops and playing a guy who puts on a persona to mask his pain so that others can feel some joy. It all feels more real now. And even if you don’t care about all that sappy malarky, the final scene playing baseball with his English class just before shipping out is one of the most heartwarming moments in movie history. I can’t be sure if it’s true but I feel for that one scene, Robin Williams the man shown through.
I’m biased because of my connection but at 121 minutes it felt like 45.
On occasion I’ll have someone younger than me say “I don’t like older movies.” Do yourself a favor. Watch Good Morning Vietnam. Appreciate it for the well executed film it is, the document of history and culture it represents, and take in what I believe to be the singular performance that captures the full range of that uniquely talented man.
That’s an order.
As he should be remembered.