A perfect showcase for Robin Williams' unique improv

Rating: 9/10 (25 October 2007)

Good Morning, Vietnam is undoubtedly the film that propelled Robin Williams to the A-list. Beforehand he was only known as Mork from Ork, and the films he'd been asked to appear in (except perhaps Moscow on the Hudson) were ones not really giving him an opportunity to flex his true muscles as an actor.
But GMV changed all that, because it was the first time Williams had been given a character that finally allowed him to showcase his unique brand of improv. In this case, a DJ.
Its what Williams does with the part that makes GMV so compelling. His live-wire performance transforms the entire movie. Without Williams, GMV would be a considerably lesser film than it is.
Barry Levinson's film is rather unique because it was the first (and only) one to add a bit of comedy into the Vietnam War. Taking a leaf out of MASH's book, it uses the conflict in Saigon as a backdrop for William's barnstorming impressions and impersonations. And for the most part, its a sweet package.
Williams plays Adrian Cronauer, a funny man shipped to Saigon to be the new host of a morning radio show. Adrian's irreverent antics in front of the mike raises a few eyebrows among the straight-arrow US military, but the troops love him!
All the while, Adrian gets to know Vietnamese culture up close and personal. Something that leads to romance, friendship and eventually a betrayal that changes Adrian's life forever.
It was the decision to put Robin Williams at the centre that makes Good Morning, Vietnam such a great movie. Williams is a master of improvisation. He can slip from one impersonation to the next effortlessly. And the best part is, none of it is scripted. Williams improvises routines right out of thin air. You know he's just making this up as he's going along, and its a remarkable thing to see.
Levinson knows Williams needs no script or cue cards to work from. All he does is position the camera in front of Williams behind the mike, give him the line Good Morning, Vietnam and then go from there. And its like watching a comic whirlwind. Any scene with him on his radio show provides non-stop laughs. He has seldom been better in anything else.
What I also liked about GMV is its humorous approach to the misguided Vietnam conflict. Its when it tries to be a little more serious and dramatic that the film falls down. Yes the war in Vietnam was a terrible tragedy. Especially because it represented the American's sabre-rattling mentality at its narrowest. But the dramatic elements offer nothing particularly enlightening about the war. The comedy elements however do.
When Good Morning, Vietnam is funny its very funny. But when it tries to make serious points it slows the film right down. Its Williams irreverent commentaries on the conflict that give the film its life. Even when he's doing impressions of Richard Nixon and even Elmer Fudd there's a thinly disguised veil of contempt against the US military's participation in the Vietnam War. They're wrapped up in sharply satirical comic material, but they make more of an impact than the film's outright heavy-handed approach. Subtlety makes all the difference.
Robin Williams is the heart and soul of the entire picture of course. Whether he's delivering manic rapid-fire monologues on the air to teaching native Vietnamese the hip aspects of the English language, he holds the attention whenever he's around. He was deservedly nominated for an Oscar. An Oscar he should have won really.
Levinson surrounds Williams with talented character actors. The most engaging are Forest Whitaker and Noble Willingham. Whitaker plays Edward, a timid young man who learns to loosen up after spending time in Adrian's company. And Willingham plays Gen. Taylor, the only one among the top brass who takes a shine to Adrian's unorthodox methods. He brings depth to what could have been an easily clichéd character.
On the downside, JT Walsh plays exactly the type of character Willingham is so skillful at avoiding. A pompous, self-important bureaucrat who takes an instant dislike to Adrian's free-thinking spirit. I have to admit I found it a bit hard to swallow that Walsh's character Sgt Major Dickerson (tee-hee!) would actually try to get Adrian killed in VC territory. No matter how much he hated him. His is an unnecessary character really. The film could have done just as well, and arguably better without him.
Nethertheless, the ending is still quite sad when Adrian winds up being shipped back to the US because one of his Vietnamese friends is a terrorist. Williams performance is so faultless that even when you can see the mechanicals of the plot clicking into place, you still feel sadness for him. His closing message is the perfect blend of cutting humour and acute pathos.
Good Morning, Vietnam would have been better if it had stayed true to the comic route. But despite a few bumps in the screenplay, Robin Williams' quite excellent (even virtuoso) performance keeps things remarkably on course. He made a questionable detour into sentimental schmaltz in the following 90s, but this film shows you what Robin Williams can be capable of when given the right material to work with.