Good Morning Vietnam

GMV is a classic Vietnam war film that takes a very personal and offbeat approach to the conflict. Robin Williams stars in what may be his greatest ever role playing the part of radio DJ Adrian Cronour [sp] who is brought to Saigon early on in the ever escalating war in order to elevate troop morale. The movie also features a young Forest Whitaker who is, as always, enjoyable. Williams shows us some of his funniest material but manages to put that comfortably into the context of a very dramatic film.

Few Vietnam War films look at the early days of US Police Action and few stay as far away from the actual action. The perspective is fresh and important. Anyone interested in Vietnam War films has to have this movie in their collection. A true classic both as a film and as a Robin Williams showcase. If any single movie put him on the map, it was this film. Even though he was known widely prior to GMV, he was not in possession of credibility as an actor until GMV showed us how he could handle the other side.

Barry Levinson does an incredible job directing and many of the scenes of Vietnam are just amazing. We really get a feel for the people who lived there and we begin to see the war as existing in a personal context for someone other than just the US and its allies. Traditionally, we are shown a war devoid of a personal enemy but here we see a little of the people that we were supposedly sent to help.