Quick recap: Based on a real story, Robin Williams plays Adrian Cronauer, an Armed Forces DJ adored by the troops. The higher ups aren’t fans however, and want him gone.

Now you’ve just seen 2/3 of the movie!

Fun (?) fact: Good Morning, Vietnam was filmed in Thailand and if you look closely, you can see several signs written in Thai in the background.

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My thoughts: First of all, rest in peace, Robin Williams.

Now, on to business. War is hell, man. It’s what I say for all war movies and although Good Morning, Vietnam has some comedic moments, the phrase is still apt. Pithy, but apt. This movie has Robin Williams in his most Robin Williams-esque role. I read trivia that he ad libbed all of the scenes of him on the radio and I’m not at all surprised. I grew up with him as the Genie in Aladdin and Mrs. Doubtfire and it was nice to see him at his craziest. I also appreciated that he could turn it on and off because Robin Williams ‘on’ is a little much. Although the real Adrian Cronauer has said that the movie was only ‘about 45% accurate’, it still paints a good picture what went on for men in roles other than soldier. My favorite scene was when Cronauer was in the jeep and his coworker announced to the troops who he was with. Cronauer had given up being on radio because of circumstances I’ll get to in a minute, but seeing how happy he made everyone changed his mind. What struck him though was that this might be their only happiness considering the war zone they were about to enter. Williams never had to say any lines about his epiphany because you could see it etched on his face.

The one thing that bothered me about the movie was that I totally sided with the higher ups in their decision to release Cronauer from his job as DJ. He befriended one of the enemies and although it saved his life, there are reasons why you don’t associate with whomever you please while at war. It doesn’t matter that the kid had a good heart. But I also agree that Cronauer should’ve toned it down for the news releases on air, at least a little bit. At the end of the day, Armed Forces radio serves an important purpose in getting the word out. Really, I’m mostly angry at myself for being an adult and seeing things from a different perspective. Now I’m afraid to watch one of those 80s flicks that takes place at a ski lodge where the stodgy adults want to tear it down and leave the cool teens without a place to snowboard. I think I could totally see the reasoning behind shutting it all down. Help.

Final review: 5/5, but just barely.

Up next: Titanic