A month ago, we lost a great performer. A performer who was a comical genius when it came to improv and stand-up. A performer who was great at being a serious actor, outside of being a comedian. A performer who would give a film his all, even if the film sucked. I'm talking about the great, talented, and gifted Robin Williams, who we sadly lost from suicide due to his depression. It really, really pains me that he's gone, and sadly took his own life because of depression, which is a battle I personally still fight against. In memory of this great and gifted actor, I'm going to review my personal favorite performance by him in a movie, and that movie is...
In Saigon 1965, Robin Williams plays a goofy Disc Jockey who is assigned to the US Armed Services Radio station, and breaks the rules with his comedy, methods, and choice of music (Even though in reality, rock music was acceptable in radio stations in Vietnam). While his superiors try to pull him off the air, Williams witnesses the horrors and effects of the war. The film is loosely based on real life Disc Jockey Adrian Cronauer when he was broadcasting in Vietnam, but the film fictionalizes the real life of Adrian Cronauer so much, that there's no point in pointing out in the inaccuracies to the real guy. Plus, I don't think the film was meant to be a biographical film on the real guy, I think the film was just inspired by the guy and was meant to be a fictional comedic take on this guy's experience. My only big criticism of the film's accuracy is Williams is named after the real guy, and since the film doesn't even come close to the real guy's story, its just best to change the characters name all together that way people won't confuse this film as biographical film. So, since the film turns a true story, into a fictional story, does it do a good job with it, or does it fail like the later Robin Williams film "Patch Adams", for example (I won't bother with that film any time soon); ON WITH THE REVIEW!
Robin Williams as our main character is perfect, it's truly one of his best performances, if not his best performance of all time. Best scenes, of course, is when he's on the radio. The jokes, the humor, the energy, the improv, the timing, the pop culture references, the impressions, the racial jokes, the dirty jokes, the characters he creates for when he does the radio, the sound effects, he's just so perfect for those scenes! None of those scenes come off as unfunny and boring, I always find myself laughing my head off. Also, just how he says "Good Morning Vietnam" is incredible, just incredible! Even his scenes outside of being a rule breaking disc jockey, he's still funny, as well as likable! What I think truly makes this character so great outside of the radio scenes, is he has really good development. He starts off as this carefree, over the top disc jockey who doesn't take life that seriously; teaches Vietnamese how to curse in an English class he teaches; and breaks the rules, not caring about the consequences, to becoming a much wiser man and taking life a little more seriously than he used to, due to his surroundings, and horrifying experiences in Vietnam. He still keeps his sense of humor, but we all know that he won't be leaving Vietnam as the same man he used to be, which is done very effectively. When I found out that Williams first Oscar nomination for Best Actor came from this film, I not only found myself loving the film more than I did, but I was very pleased that this was the film that boosted his film career.
Most of the supporting cast do just as good of a job as Williams does. First, you have Robin Williams's sidekick and friend Eddie Garlick (Forest Whitaker) who like Williams brings a really fun and likable performance, and the chemistry between him and Williams is highly enjoyable. Only few issues I have is, his development of taking chances and risks, felt very half-assed and downplayed into the plot. Also, his running gag of starting the car when it's on, was funny the first two times, but it sadly overstayed its welcome when the film did it a third time. There's Williams' two superiors Sergeant Dickerson (J.T. Walsh) and Steven Hauk (Bruno Kirby) who are both characters you love to hate, and want to see Williams get back at and insult. My favorite performance out of the two, is Kirby's performance, who is both fun and hatable as this Lieutenant who thinks he's funnier than Williams, which he isn't that kind of makes you feel bad for the guy. The rest of the troops, and people that Williams meets do give a good performance, but they're not as memorable or fun, as the characters I just mentioned. The only other Troop character that I remember are the two censors played by the Stanton Twins, who are really just there for Williams to pick on. Outside of the troop characters, most of the Vietnamese actors aren't that good or funny for that matter. I mean the Vietnamese Bar Owner, I couldn't understand him half of the time, nor did I get much of a laugh out of him, outside of that goofy smile. In fact, most of the Troops and Vietnamese characters, are just their for Williams to work off on with his comedic talents. There's really not much character to most of them. He even has a love relationship that feels forced into the plot; is not interesting or effective; and the actress herself playing Willaims' love interest is forgettable. Outside of Williams's sidekick and his two rivals; the only other person that has character, is memorable, and has an interesting relationship with Williams is his Vietnamese friend Tuan, who's the brother of Williams's love interest. I enjoy seeing the two hang together; I admire seeing Tuan showing Williams his culture; I love how much he cares for Williams' safety; and the actor playing Tuan gives a really emotional performance at the end.
One of the many reasons why I enjoy this film, is how it doesn't shy away from the heavy stuff about the war. The film is mostly made to be a war comedy, but when it starts getting dramatic, it really gets dramatic! The bomb scene as Williams witnesses civilians and troops being killed and injured; him being trapped in the jungle being hunted by the VC; the infamous "What A Wonderful World" sequence; and the emotional moment between him and his friend Tuan are very heavy scenes. Yeah, Williams does bring some humor in a few of those scenes that do feel a bit out of place, but the scenes are still sad and effective, and I'd be lying if I said, I didn't find some of those jokes funny. I also love how Williams gets to observe the Vietnamese culture and his surroundings of the war, some are treated in a comical way (Mostly when he's teaching English to the Vietnamese), but the scenes when he's at a Vietnamese village are for the most part treated in a mature way. As for the film's soundtrack, it's great and fits every scene perfectly! I might actually give the whole entire soundtrack a listen, since the film's soundtrack contains both the rock music that Williams plays, and Williams's comical improv, which I'm sure brings the feeling of being a troop or civilian listening to his radio broadcasts like in the film.
Aside from some very forgettable supporting characters, and a forced love subplot, it's still a great movie! Yeah, it doesn't follow the life of the real DJ accurately, but as I said earlier, I didn't think the film was trying to, it was just meant to be a fictional story inspired by a real guy, which I think works really well! The mix between comedy, and the drama of the war is done really well, despite some out of place jokes, but they don't really ruin the scene or moments as much as you think. The performances from the supporting actors such as Whitaker, Walsh, Kirby, and Tung Thanh Tran who plays Tuan, are great. However, the films heart and center that makes the film so great is Williams's outstanding performance, who has good character development; a likable and fun personality; and being crap your pants funny, which is truly Williams at his best!
RATING 4/5
R.I.P TO THE GREAT AND TALENTED ROBIN WILLIAMS, YOU WILL BE MISSED, BUT WILL ALWAYS BE IN OUR HEARTS!
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