Riding high after taking home the prestigious Best Picture award at the Oscars in 2019 for Green Book, director Peter Farrelly has returned with his next directorial effort, The Greatest Beer Run Ever. When you first hear the premise of the film, it definitely sounds like a very standard movie that has a heartwarming message at the core of it and you are exactly right; that is what the film is.
The film stars Zac Efron as Chickie who wants to support his friends who have left New York to go and fight in Vietnam. He suddenly thinks of a truly wild plan – personally delivering them American beer. What starts as a well-meaning journey quickly changes Chickie's life and perspective on the war.
The main reason I believe most people will tune into The Greatest Beer Run Ever is for its stacked cast. The film is led by Zac Efron who is truly giving the best performance of his career in this. The man has slowly been moving away from doing comedies like High School Musical and Bad Neighbours and it's clear he wants to move away from those films after being in the industry for nearly twenty years. He definitely is able to still have his goofy charm which he has had in his earlier work but also is able to bring some seriousness and weight to the role. The movie has a tonal shift in its second half and Efron definitely is able to carry the film on his shoulders.
Russell Crowe also plays a fantastic supporting role in the film who is fantastic when he is working with Efron. His perspective on the Vietnam War and drive to get photographs and coverage on what is happening makes his character to be fascinating.
The story itself is also quite fun and that goes hand-in-hand with its great pacing. At just over two hours, the film covers a lot of ground and has Chickie going around a lot of Vietnam in that time span. The whole idea of a man going around giving cans of beer to his pals is one that celebrates friendship and is heartwarming.
My main problem with The Greatest Beer Run Ever is, simply, we have seen this story done many times before. It is generic and I do believe that is down to the screenplay and Farrelly's direction. The story feels like it tries to play it so safe as a typical awards film that it actually makes it more average in the process. This is genuinely what hurts the film the most because with another rewrite or two, this could've been a truly great movie.
The Greatest Beer Run Ever is a rewrite away from being a truly great film. Zac Efron is excellent as a charming lead who has a commanding screen presence but the screenplay really does let the film down. Russell Crowe is great in a supporting role and I really wished we saw more of him. Nevertheless, this is a fun and light-hearted adventure that celebrates friendship.
The Greatest Beer Run Ever is streaming on Apple TV+ from September 30th
