Williams sole energy source in "feel good" Nam film.

Rating: 5/10 (7 September 2011)

In Good Morning Viet Nam Robin Williams takes his stand up act to SEA as an irreverent DJ. A mild mawkish comedy under the mundane style of Barry Levinson who seems content to just turn the zany comic loose it never attains much of an energy level outside Williams inconsistent rants.
Transferred from Greece to Nam to DJ and entertain the troops Adrien Cronauer has little respect for the men running the war and he subversively gets it across to the grunts on the ground fighting it who bond with him. His superiors find his attitude trying however and take steps, one very cynical and drastic, to remove him.
In his prime Williams took his wacky and irreverent comedy routines and incorporated it into a "Mr. Wonderful" persona in a series of films in which he championed the underdog and vanquished the big bad establishment with his rapier wit. Good Morning may well be the best of the lot with an ideal occupation and situation for Williams to be in but director Levinson brings nothing in terms of a look or a cohesive storyline to the picture. Injecting flaccid montages to accompany the era's music he more or less abdicates his directorship in favor of Robbie coming up with comic gold. There's some dust to be mined but away from the mike Williams drowns in schmaltzy interplay with the child like Asians( courtesy of Levinson's hackneyed patronizing) bridging the gap like LBJ and MacNamara could only dream of. Good Morning Viet Nam is little more than a stage for Williams routine and incite, something you can catch on a late night show in less time and for less money.