This week’s new film release may seem like more of a Summer escapist flick with an average Joe traveling across the globe and acting like the ole comic trope “the fish out of water”, That notion is somewhat re-enforced by the film’s star, who’s mostly known for musicals and comedies, and by the movie’s marketing team, who are ‘selling it” as a zany romp, Much as with DOG from earlier this year, don’t judge a flick by its cast or ads. That’s because the story’s protagonist is headed to Vietnam… in 1967, the definition of a “hot spot”. Now if this mix of whimsy and social/political upheaval in the “swingin’ 60s”, sounds a bit like the recent Best Picture Oscar winner THE GREEN BOOK (which was set five or six years before this), well you’re pretty perceptive because this is from the same filmmaker who hopes to entertain and enlighten us once again with this true story all about THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER.
The “run” actually starts in a neighborhood bar in Manhattan on that fateful year. The “mainstays’ are telling tales and busting…chops, as John “Chickie” Donohue (Zac Efron) cajoles the owner/bartender, known affectionately as “The Colonel” (Bill Murray) to put a brew on his “tab”. The spirits are deflated a bit when the TV spews out more images of the deadly combat overseas. Cut to late the next morning as Chickie is rousted out of bed by his bombastic “old man”. Since Chickie’s a merchant marine, and unmarried, he’s crashing with his family since he’s often out to sea for months. The only thing that Pops insists on is that he attended weekend mass. The local church is an oasis of calm after he endures the heated arguments between his folks and his college-age sister Christine (Ruby Ashbourne Serkis). She actually protests the US involvement “over there” at the nearby park, which is the scene of a brawl involving Chickie and a “pub pal”. Back at said “watering hole”, the Colonel wishes he could do something for “the boys” awww, even if he could just bring them a beer. Suddenly an idea pops into Chickies’ pickled brain. He’ll bring the neighbor gang beers since he can work on a cargo ship headed to Nam. He finds out a vessel is shipping out, then fills a battered gym bag full of PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) cans, along with some cash, letter, and other trinkets from “service families” and dashes to the docks. Before ya know it, he’s in the harbor pleading with his CO for a multi-day leave. Begrudgingly, Chickie gets 72 hours. From there he’s checking names off his list, giving out “not-so-cold ones”, and grabbing truck and copter rides from staffers that think he’s CIA (he is wearing a plaid Sear short-sleeve shirt and jeans). But as Chickie gets farther “in-country”, the horrors of battle may take him down, despite the help of a grizzled news “photog” named Coates (Russell Crowe). Can Chickie get back to his boat in time, or will this “goodwill trip” cost him his life?
With great energy and physicality, Efron dives into this character role in an attempt to break out of the “teen dream’ matinee idol parts. And he often succeeds. His Chickie has goofy charm to spare as he fumbles to express his often conflicting motivations. He truly wants to help the “guys from the block”, but his enthusiasm colors his world view. Chickie thinks that the fellas only need to be shown that their hometown’s behind them. Of course, the guys he finally finds, think that he’s misguided and reckless (“too stupid to get killed”). Efron conveys that sweaty panic as his eyes are fully “opened” to the dirty deeds done in the name of “country”. Doing much to pry those “lids” is Crowe who has the necessary gravitas to “spill the beans” while dodging the bombs to deliver the unvarnished story. Unlike his array of action heroes, Coates is content to click the camera rather than a pistol, as he adopts Chickie almost as a pet or a naive son who must be sent back. Of course, Chickie may not get the neighborhood guys to listen, men like The Colonel, who Murray embodies with none of his snarky attitude. Rather, he’s as straight and unwavering as his impressive silver “buzzcut”. As for the gangs at his pub, the funniest might be Hal Cumpston as Leary, a doofus who switches his opinion with lightning speed (“a flip-flopper”). Lighting up the screen is Kristen Carey as the mother of one of Chickie’s best pals who is MIA. Her inner light for him glows brightly, though we can see that she is braced for the worst.
The aforementioned director is Peter Farrelly, who also co-wrote the adaptation (with Pete Jones and Brian Hayes Currie) of the book the real Chickie wrote with Joanna Molloy. He keeps the story flowing fairly smoothly, though a few of the brief flashbacks tend to slow down the tale’s progression (blips of Chichie with his MIA bud). Plus he goes deep into the heated family dinner table verbal battles that seem to be sparking back up in more recent political and philosophical “showdowns”. But, unlike 2018’s THE GREEN BOOK (four years, really), there’s little time for character interaction. Chickie’s time with the old NYC guys feels truncated as he has to keep moving, and any chemistry with Coates is drowned out by the bombs and bullets. And frankly, the GIs make few impressions as some wonder if they can ever really return home. Some of the “pencil-pushers” who think that Chickie is an “undercover” provide a bit of levity, but it’s scarce. And despite the “R” rating, much of the conflict feels too “tidy” as Chickie can easily reconnect with folks on the way. It feels less DEER HUNTER” and more GOOD MORNING VIETNAM, as the horrors force Chickie into an awareness (maybe a bit “woke”). As Mr. Joel sang, “the good ole days weren’t all that good”, but this is a tune that’s been played too often making this feel like a slightly elevated basic cable dramedy. Perhaps a few brews from the bag would’ve made THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER go down easier, but it just leaves the viewer with a throbbing movie hangover.
2.5 Out of 4
THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER opens in select theatres and streams exclusively on AppleTV+ beginning Friday, September 30, 2022
