Directed By Peter Farrelly

Starring – Zac Efron, Russell Crowe, Bill Murray

The Plot – A man’s story of leaving New York in 1967 to bring beer to his childhood buddies in the Army while they are fighting in Vietnam.

Rated R for adult language and some war violence

(2) The Greatest Beer Run Ever — Official Trailer | Apple TV+ – YouTube

POSITIVES

On the surface level, “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” might sound like another dumb comedy, but Farrelly injects a balance of heart and insightful commentary to this true story that not only supplants with it an element of surprise to the depth of the screenplay, but also for Efron a career-defining dramatic turn that should at the very least elude him of the typical typecasting that has limited his appeal. As a period piece, it’s executed visually and thematically to perfection, with a weathered cinematography from Sean Porter and vintage production designs in wardrobe and sets emulating the essence of the flower power generation, but never in ways that feel heavy-handed or distracting to the integrity of the narrative they influence. In addition, the soundtrack thankfully keeps the Rolling Stones on the shelf, while the audible escapism in the many assorted artists that decorate its causes, outline the helplessness and hopelessness of the war in ways that hang over its characters like a thick cloud of depression that envelopes them, but one that Efron’s character ignorantly doesn’t acknowledge for at least the first half of this film. This is where things get interesting for the narrative because around the same time that Efron’s Chickie begins to open his eyes to the realities surrounding the war, so too does the tonal evolution for the picture, allowing the dramatic muscles in storytelling to sift through Vietnam’s culture, the victimizing of its people, falsified perceptions on the Homefront, and most importantly the arc of Chickie himself, which rid it of the telegraphed infamy of previous Vietnam efforts not named “Full Metal Jacket”, with the kind of attention and sentiment that values its setting as a tapped-into conscience, and not just a place. It solidifies a tangible essence to the land that not only conveys the magnitude of lives and resources lost in the struggle, but also a rich versatility among its people for the way they viewed matters, with no shortage of stakes between sides embroiled in a conflict that neither side can properly nor accurately justify. Because of such, one could certainly argue that Farrelly’s latest is an anti-war film, but for my money it feels more like a pro-humanity film, where the values of life are illustrated through all of war’s consequences, and the obscurity of truth feels as resonant now as it did in a war from fifty-five years ago. For performances, Efron supplies his expected charismatic charms to the character, but equally invokes an underlining pathos with the air of his newfound experiences that mature him gracefully, while transforming him emotionally, and when combined with Crowe, whose time is unfortunately sparse, combine for a dynamic duo that work surprisingly well together, despite them feeling like such polar opposites in casting.

NEGATIVES

Even for a true story, the script is plagued by an abundance of conveniences and logic leaps that I simply couldn’t ignore, regardless of how invested I was to the developing narrative. For starters, Chickie’s journey between various army bases feels a bit too lazy and undercooked in the methods used to gain himself access to the various army bases he travels with ease. This not only undercuts the meaning of the journey, but also kind of unintentionally conveys a bumbling ignorance for army battalions that is a bit offensive to the interpretation, feeling a bit too unrealistic, even in a movie this silly. Another example pertains to Chickie’s bag, which initially is packed to the brim with full beer cans, where he’s not only able to carry it with ease while running and jumping throughout jungles, but also attains it throughout while somehow only cracking one can unintentionally. Beyond this, it is a film that wears every minute of its two-hour run time, with stuffy pacing during the second act that doesn’t donate the time allowance properly between necessities. Because this film is continuously balancing so many themes and subplots throughout, it eventually becomes overwhelmed with responsibilities, with the transitions becoming stagnant for far too long. An example of this in the long-term of the screenplay is in a series of jarring flashback sequences that are used quite often during the initial first act, but then abandoned until the moment when the intention becomes obvious. When it does eventually materialize, we come to interpret an internal longing and regret inside of Chickie that makes the motivations for his journey all the more evident, but never in ways that feel like a necessity to sequences deserving of their own time inside of this already over-stuffed execution. Because of this and everything else, I was never bored with the film, but rather exhausted with the duration of the journey, where another cut of the finished product might’ve helped hem some scenes that remained grounded for too long.

OVERALL
“The Greatest Beer Run Ever” is the rare surprise to Apple Plus that humors and humbles audiences on its way to one of the more thought-provoking insights to war repercussions. Farrelly’s latest is certainly filling, but goes down smooth all the same, and when served cold concocts a frothy blast in a glass that he pours with unrelenting honesty.

My Grade: 7/10 or B