ARTS Monday, January 18, 1988 The Michigan Daily Poge'7 Williams has 'Morning' energy By John Shea It goes without saying that films about Vietnam are by and large not Laughfests. (Of course, such an as- sertion might be rendered inaccurate with the citing of John Wayne's The Green Berets, but snickering at grotesque propaganda doesn't count.) For many, the remembrances of the time and the pain that comes with it still haunts them as much as it did when they were "there." And the films that have emerged from Hol- lywood depicting the war, in the two major waves of '78-'79(Coming Home, The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now ) and '86-'87(Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, etc.), have largely served as either bitter political con- demnations or painful, personal catharses. So the making of Good Morning, Vietnam, a highly charged comedy starring Robin Williams, is in itself a bold move. No one has ever at- tempted to use comedy as a tool to convey the tragedy that is the Viet- nam war, and director Barry Levinson not only tries but succeeds with haunting effectiveness. Williams stars as real-life figure Adrian Cronauer, an irreverent disc jockey who comes to Saigon in 1965 to take a morning post on the local Armed Forces Radio network. } Upon arriving, he finds that he is expected to read propagandized news items and play records strictly from an approved list of "Percy Faith's Greatest Hits." (For those who are unfamiliar with this list, artists in- clude, among others, Perry Como.) CLASSIFIED ADS It takes Cronauer all but two sec- onds to abandon Percy Faith's playlist; in its place comes a raucous mix of humorous observations ("it's 0600 hours. What does the 'O' stand for? 'O' my God it's early!") and rock 'n' roll that proves to be a big- ger hit with the enlisted men than the brass. Running parallel to the story of conflict between himself and the brass are Cronauer's exhausting ef- forts to capture the attentions and af- fections of Trinh (Chintara Sukap- atana, one of Thailand's most hon- ored actresses, I understand), a young Vietnamese woman who doesn't want anything to do with him. He's slightly discouraged by this, but he takes consolation in making friends with her brother Tuan (Tung Thanh Tran). Vietnam marks something of a breakthrough for Robin Williams. Aside from his masterful perfor- mance in The World According to Garp, the comedian has endured a film career in which he's been hand- cuffed to character-roles that have re- stricted his comic genius. Here, Williams is fortunate enough not only to be graced with Mitch Markowitz's strong script but Levinson's willingness to let the comedian "do his thing." As a result, Williams explodes on the screen, bursting through with the frantic en- ergy and scathing wit that seems re- served only for his stand-up routines. He is an utter delight to watch at the microphone. But as the year marches on, things become more difficult for the disc jockey. Tensions are rising in acters drawn with unfinished lines, making it difficult for us to grab hold of them. If nothing else, they need to be more complete to contrast with Williams. Levinson, whose other period pieces include Diner and Tin Men, captures the growing fear and escala- tion of the war nicely; playing Louis Armstrong's soft and mellow "What a Wonderful World" as Vietnamese boys are being shot in the streets is especially disturbing. Yet, without any empathy for the characters, we eventually lose inter- est in the story. We want to see Williams at the microphone for two straight hours because he is so bril- liant. But there is a shade of irony in that Williams is both the film's brightest light and darkest detriment; he's simply too good for the Viet nam's own good. r MICHIGRA s 0 Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams, center) surrounded by members of his company in the new movie 'Good Morning Vietnam.' v'r"' -Mass Meeting / Saigon and elsewhere; the inevitable escalation of the war makes it almost impossible for Cronauer to associate with Trinh and Tuan. And the brass, who have never been receptive to Cronauer's humorous commentaries, are looking for any excuse to shut him down, regardless of his popular- ity. Yet, there is an absence of character in the film. We never get a feel for who Cronauer really is - and yet this is okay. What we see on the screen is a man hiding his pain behind his laughter, preventing both the characters on the screen and his audience from getting close to him. For Cronauer, this distance works. 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