Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
It is 1967 and the United States is in the thick of the Vietnam War. Chickie Donohue (Zac Efron) is a Marine vet now working as a merchant seaman. He lives with his parents, sleeps until 3 PM, and spends his nights drinking with his buddies. One night, the bar suggests it would be fun for someone to rally the troops with beers and well wishes from home. Chickie decides quickly that it should be him doing it, and after arriving in Saigon, quickly learns this experience is not going to be as fun as he thought.
Does that sound outlandish and completely improbable? Probably. Yet it happened, as the Film is based on a best-selling book and a Documentary Short that aired on the PBR YouTube page (and yes, that is the brand of beer Chickie brings to Vietnam). That wild and likely slightly embellished story is what makes THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER so compelling, interesting and downright horrific. Oscar-winning Co-Writer/Director Peter Farrelly does not go against the grain with what transpires here and gets a little preachy in some areas, but does well within the confines of the Film’s story and its omnipresent messaging that still applies today. It is easily his most complicated production yet and while it will not satisfy the larger contingent of Green Book haters, it still shows his growth as a Filmmaker.
Where Farrelly and his team falter is in the Film’s rapid and chaotic tonal shifts. It never knows when it should be a Comedy, an Action picture or a treatise on the horrors of war. Sometimes it is one. Sometimes it is all three in the same five minute span. There are so many shifts and pivots that you may get whiplash watching and wishing it was a little more straight-forward and less tee-hee. I do not hold it against Farrelly and Company however; Vietnam was a disaster of unimaginable proportions that destroyed the lives of an entire generation of young men and inspired decades of media. BEER RUN fits in within the confines of those ideals and while it is certainly not a bad film (nor a bad looking one), it is not a great one either.
Supporting turns from Russell Crowe as a haggard Photojournalist and an extended Cameo from Bill Murray as a blink-and-you-will-miss-him Bartender named “The Colonel” are both well done, yet it is Efron who really shines playing against-type as a snarky wiseass not so subtly hiding his vulnerability and fear. It is a big swing for the young Actor and while it could have used a bit more finessing and a whole lot more introspection, I thought Efron did an admirable job carrying this War Picture from beginning to end.
I know some people have still not forgiven Farrelly, nor The Academy, for the Green Book win, but do not let that rage get the best of you. THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER is a more accomplished film in every way, and manages to be just as compelling as it is surprising. I just wish it did a better job with the tonal structure.
And it may sound silly, yet it is kind of refreshing for a film about the Vietnam War to not have CCR’s “Fortunate Son” pop up on the Soundtrack.
THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER streams exclusively on Apple TV+ starting Friday, September 30, 2022.
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