Delayed Reaction: The Greatest Beer Run Ever

Premise: The true story of a guy who decided to deliver beers to friends in Vietnam to show his appreciation.

This is the follow up from the director who won Best Picture for Green Book. That is both a factual statement and a descriptive statement. Green Book is a fine movie. It's a little silly that it won Best Picture, and there's been buyer's remorse since the moment it won. It was an accident of circumstances. Peter Farrelly is beloved for his 90s comedies with his brother. He ventured out on his own with a movie about race relations that was surprisingly good, considering the last 2 decades of films that people largely (and rightfully) ignored. That awards season had a lot of flawed nominees, so Green Book could sneak through.

 

Now Peter Farrelly is a director with Oscar pedigree, but that was the exception to his filmography, not the rule. So, how does he follow that up? He's not really an auteur. He won't start making Romas or Nomadlands. The Greatest Beer Run Ever is a comedy movie made by someone who is expected to make more than a comedy movie now. And I don't think that's working for anyone.

 

The movie is most comfortable early on, when Chickie Donohue (Zac Efron) is stumbling his way to and around Vietnam. Chickie is a fool with a good heart. That's Farrelly's specialty. It's even what works best about Green Book. Now, imagine if Harry or Lloyd were thrown into Platoon. It would be strange, right? That's what happens in this. It becomes a different movie, and not one that works as well. It doesn't all fit together. The individual parts aren't bad though. Farrelly does a good job depicting the attack on Saigon. It's more technically impressive than I expected. It's just a different movie.

I remain optimistic about Zac Efron. I like how determined he is to work in comedies. He just continues to have the Arnold Schwarzenegger problem. The man is chiseled and he can't hide it. The more people don't acknowledge it, the stranger it is. For the Schwarzenegger comparison, that's why Twins works and Jingle All the Way struggles. Efron's Chickie is a slacker merchant seaman who drinks every night yet also looks like he hasn't had a carb in a decade and never misses leg day. It's less that he's miscast and more that the film ignores who they cast.

 

I don't know where Peter Farrelly goes from here. I don't think he wants to go back to Dumb and Dumber but I don't think he'll ever find the alchemy of Green Book again. After The Greatest Beer Run Ever, I'm hoping he at least gives himself the freedom to not think he needs to make an award movie every time.

 

Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend