‘The Greatest Beer Run Ever’

If it wasn’t based on a true story, and if it didn’t star Zac Efron, “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” might not work as a movie. But it is based on truth, and Efron is the leading man, so the film comes together nicely but not without flaws.

Based on a 2020 book of the same name, “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” follows a pretty simple story. Efron plays John “Chickie” Donohue, who, in 1967 decides to deliver beers to his neighborhood friends serving in South Vietnam. The idea came from a friendly bartender, himself a World War II veteran, whom all the neighborhood boys call “The Colonel” (Bill Murray).

Admittedly, Efron accepts the challenge after he’s had about five or six beers himself and looks for every opportunity to weasel out of his big promise to deliver beer. But no such luck. Everyone in the neighborhood starts hearing about his pledge to visit South Vietnam and starts giving him stuff to take to the boys in uniform, from $33 to settle poker debts, socks and a rosary.

To further seal his fate, Chickie finds there is, in fact, a boat leaving New York bound for South Vietnam that needs an oil mechanic, a position he can fill. So, Chickie says his goodbyes and sets off on a two-month voyage from New York, through the Panama Canal, to South Vietnam.

And, for a film that committed to a runtime of more than two hours, it would have been nice to see him doing a little work on the ship, showing the idea of committing to a twomonth voyage. That’s nothing to sneeze at. But “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” cuts straight to Saigon where Chickie gets himself three days off work with a fast lie to run across the war zone delivering beers to his friends.

Chickie finds his first friend easily enough on a base with Military Police in Saigon. And, to his credit, Chickie’s friend isn’t exactly over the moon to see him. He’s just shocked and tells Chickie he needs to get back on his boat and go home. But the protagonist shrugs it off, eager to continue farther into combat zones to fulfill his promise. So he pulls out a lot of beers from his duffle bag and passes them out to all the MPs in the room.

“The Greatest Beer Run Ever” seems to operate on the same kind of math with regards to beers in the bag as action movies do with how many bullets are in a clip. As many as the plot needs. Because Chickie always somehow has enough beers for, not just his friends, but all the people in uniform around him.

While in Saigon, Chickie visits a hotel bar where press war correspondents gather. And he’s flabbergasted at how unsupportive they appear to be. If members of the audience haven’t figured it out by now, Chickie isn’t exactly the smartest guy around. But he does have a good heart. Unfortunately, having a good heart unrestrained can get a guy into trouble, especially one smuggling beer into a war zone.

It’s here Chickie meets a journalist named Arthur Coates (Russell Crowe), who gives Chickie his first taste of cynicism in the war efforts. Up until this point, Chickie was giving America blanket support, spouting off mantras about how the troops were defending the U.S. overseas, even if he couldn’t quite put a finger on who they were supposed to be fighting. The only opposition he faced came from his sister, a college student, and anti-war activist.

This exchange between Chickie and Arthur sets up a nice payoff when they meet again on Chickie’s return to Saigon.

“The Greatest Beer Run Ever” has some good jokes. One of the best lines comes when a military officer hands Chickie a pistol, only to hesitate when he finds out the beer delivery boy is a civilian.

“I know how to shoot. I served in the military,” Chickie boasts.

“Where did you serve?” the officer asks.

“Massachusetts,” Chickie responds.

“Yeah, I’m gonna need that back.” the officer says, taking the pistol away.

For the first half of the film, Chickie skates by on the idea that military officers believe he’s a CIA agent based solely on his civilian clothing and the fact that he moves about the country so freely and casually. So they fly him places, give him rides in jeeps, and generally let him move around without consequence.

But eventually, the war catches up with Chickie. He witnesses bombs dropped, vehicles exploding, soldiers losing limbs, South Vietnamese children screaming at his very appearance, and even sees an alleged enemy combatant tossed out of a helicopter following interrogation by an actual CIA agent. He was shot at, chased, almost trampled by elephants, and yelled at by his friends who all seem to realize what a stupid idea this was.

Upon his return to Saigon, Chickie is a different man. And when he runs into Arthur, Chickie doesn’t seem as sure of the war effort. In fact, the more he witnesses the U.S. commanders lie about things he witnessed with his own eyes, the more this knucklehead comes to understand the nuances of war.

While Murray and Crowe are fine in their respective roles, it’s Efron who truly carries “The Greatest Beer Run Ever.” His transition from happy-go-lucky beer delivery boy to a man who has witnessed the horrors of war is masterfully handled.

When Chickie finally gets home, he meets up with the mother of a friend who asked him to deliver her son a rosary. With that friend dead, Chickie returns the rosary and breaks down crying in the mother’s arms. He was a fool. He knows it. And now Chickie understands the phrase “War Is Hell.” The delivery boy saw it firsthand.

Discussing Vietnam was complicated in 1967. And it’s complicated in 2022. “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” is no “Saving Private Ryan.” It’s got some good jokes, and the film offers a couple of sobering moments that’ll have viewers muttering, “That’s messed up.”

But the pacing feels off, and the film spends a little too much time on happy-go-lucky Chickie before arriving at the consequences of his actions.