Who knew Vietnam was this much fun?

Rating: 8/10 (3 August 2000)

This movie is Robin Williams at the top of his game in comedy. Robin was huge back in the eighties when he was doing his brand of hyperactive, hyper-referencing schtick in his stand-up act, but it doesn't seem to make the transition to film all that well, except in a few cases (this is one, another would be Disney's Aladin). The problem with other movies is they let Robin do his thing where it really has no place in the story. In this case, it IS the story so it works quite well.
I like Robin when he does good movies, like this one for example. I can just imagine all the G.I.'s getting stoned and listening to him on the radio ("This dude is so funny! Hey, is someone shooting at us?"). There are a lot of laugh out loud funny moments in this flick. His act wears thin a few times, but over all it's great stuff. Bruno Kirby provides a lot of laughs too as the anti-Robin of the radio.
Director Levinson has had an incredible career. Seems he's always doing something interesting, it's refreshing to watch a guy at work where box office isn't a concern, he just puts them out and you like them or you don't. This one starts out with big laughs, tells a sweet story about Robin's character and his relationship with the locals, and ends on a more serious note actually dealing with with the war and its effect on average citizens. Not Apocalypse Now or Platoon serious, but it's well done for a comedy. Worth seeing if you haven't already. 8/10 stars. G'night!