Good morning, Vietnam! With that greeting, Robin Williams turned a radio booth in Saigon into the loudest, funniest and most human place in a war film.
Released in 1987, Good Morning, Vietnam stars Williams as Adrian Cronauer, an Armed Forces radio disc jockey whose irreverent humour and love of rock music win over the troops and alarm his superiors. The film is loosely based on the real Cronauer’s experiences.
Williams’s broadcasts are the heart of the film: improvised, rapid-fire and full of voices, they feel like pure stand-up, yet they are set against the seriousness of the Vietnam War. When the comedy stops, the drama hits harder because Williams has made us care about the man behind the microphone.
It is a signature role because it finally gave his stage energy a cinematic home. He is not just funny here; he is a morale officer, a rebel and a witness, all at once.