Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Great soundtrack? Check. Robin Williams being absolutely wild with his comedic DJ routines? Check. A standard battle of wills between the old and the new? Check. When I sat down for this long-overdue revisit of Good Morning, Vietnam, a film I believe I probably last watched on VHS, I thought I knew what I was getting. Because I still remembered it, the "highlights" anyway. Or so I thought. There was quite a bit here that I'd forgotten, and I'm here to now remind other people about some of those things.

Based on the story of Adrian Cronauer, a radio DJ who spent some time trying to raise the morale of the troops in Vietnam, this was one of only two films written by Mitch Markowitz, although some of his TV work feels like a good practice run for this kind of thing. You could also argue that a lot of the film was made up by an unleashed Williams, who Cronauer claimed made him seem a hell of a lot more fun than he was in reality, but let's give due credit to Markowitz for crafting something with a great balance of comedy, drama, and enough room for a supporting cast to move around without being thrown offscreen by the tornado tearing through many scenes.

When he is given his new job, Cronauer soon finds himself butting heads with Lt. Steven Hauk (who tries to advise him on both comedy and the permitted playlist) and Sgt. Major Dickerson (J. T. Walsh), but he also has some immediate firm friends in the shape of Edward Garlick (Forest Whitaker) and Marty Lee Dreiwitz (Robert Wuhl). When he falls for a local woman named Trinh (Chintara Sukapatan), Cronauer ends up teaching an English class just to try getting closer to her, which leads to him befriending her brother, Tuan (Tom T. Tran, credited here as Tung Thanh Tran), which leads to him getting himself in even more trouble.

Director Barry Levinson knows how to make the most of what he has here, and everything I mentioned in the opening paragraph is a strength for the film. The plotting is quite formulaic, but in an enjoyable way, Williams is on great form, and that soundtrack holds up as one of the best. There's enough scene-setting to remind everyone that we're in Vietnam, but it helps that there are only really a few main locations used throughout the majority of the runtime (the DJ area/military offices, a bar, the English class). There's also enough Williams to ensure that everyone knows this is a Williams movie, but the supporting cast are given some superb moments to help them stand out.

Whitaker is a real delight for every moment that he's onscreen, and he's the one helping to bring out the best in our lead while also reminding him of what he's really doing it all for, and Kirby, as unthinkable as it may seem, almost steals the entire movie with a comedic performance that is all the better for it not being played comedically (his character isn't funny, not intentionally, but he's constantly laughable). Sukapatan is fine, Tran is really good, and it's always a pleasure to watch Walsh onscreen, especially when he's delivering the kind of barely-controlled anger that he has here. Wuhl is good, Noble Willingham is enjoyable in his few scenes as the sympathetic Gen. Taylor, Richard Edson has the benefit of being onscreen alongside Kirby, adding to the comedy, and there's an amusingly camp turn from Cu Ba Nguyen as businessman/bar owner Jimmy Wah. I would not have believed that this was his first film acting role if I hadn't just quickly scanned through his filmography online.

Admittedly a bit tame compared to other films set during the Vietnam War, this is a nice way to shine a light on the whole debacle from a different angle. Making arbitrary rules and regulations about comedy and music is indicative of how arbitrary some (many?) of the military edicts are, especially during a conflict as chaotic and misjudged as the one in Vietnam. 

You'll probably revisit this one day while wanting to enjoy some classic Williams schtick, but you may be as pleasantly surprised as I was by all of the main supporting cast members, especially Whitaker and Kirby.

8/10

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The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Sometimes reviews are here to help encourage others to seek out films that are relatively unknown. Sometimes I'm pretty much preaching to the converted. This review of The Last Boy Scout falls into the latter camp. 

Bruce Willis is Joe Hallenbeck, a detective who is nothing more than a crumpled heap of neo-noir tropes. He gets dragged into a case that involves a stripper named Cory (Halle Berry) and her boyfriend, ex-quarterback Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans). People start dying as they start to untangle a plot that involves gambling, corruption, and a ruthless businessman named Sheldon Marcone (Noble Willingham).

Starting with a hell of a set-piece that shows a football player tearing through a field of opponents and pulling a gun as he continues to run towards some points he desperately needs to placate some dangerous blackmailers, The Last Boy Scout is a small-scale film that works as well as it does thanks to the mix of characters and the impact of the many moments that have Hallenbeck cornered by deadly thugs.

Director Tony Scott brings his usual flair for this kind of material, without his usual love of excessively hyperactive editing (oh, you can tell it is HIS film, but it's much less headache-inducing than some of his later movie), and Shane Black is on form with his use of tropes and witty one-liners, making Hallenbeck one of his most memorable characters in a filmography that is just crammed with memorable characters.

Willis and Wayans are a good central pairing, with the former being older and cynical while the latter is a flawed wannabe-hero who perhaps isn't as familiar with how bad people can truly be. That's not to say that the character played by Willis isn't flawed, but his flaws are shown as part of the whole package that helps to make him so good at his job (or, at least, a stereotype who nobody expects to be able to achieve great things until he starts to defy the odds). Willingham is a charismatic villain, as is Taylor Negron (playing one of his right hand men), and Danielle Harris steals a couple of scenes, playing Hallenbeck's moody, but also smart and brave, daughter. Berry doesn't do too bad in her role, Chelsea Field is Hallenbeck's suffering wife, and there are one or two scenes for the great Bruce McGill.

You can predict a lot of the main plot beats here, and Black has never been bothered about being predictable, his focus is always on the dialogue and pacing, but this is yet another film that gives you joy through the actual journey, rather than the main destination. Which isn't to say that the finale is a disappointment. It brings everything together beautifully, and keeps the stakes high for all involved.

Willis gives one of his best, grizzled, turns (this performance sits just below the better Die Hard movies and Twelve Monkeys, in my opinion, if only for the pure fun of it), Wayans is on good form, there's a great score from Michael Kamen, and Scott and Black make a great team. It's a shame that this was their only film together. It's a high point for both of them.

8/10

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