The Greatest Beer Run Ever movie review: The truth doesn’t hurt us

We have a brand new movie coming to Apple TV+ (and select theaters) in The Greatest Beer Run Ever. Is the movie worth checking out? I will share my review and let you know.

The Greatest Beer Run Ever is the story of one man who wanted to bring beer to his childhood friends who were serving in the Army during the Vietnam war. The movie is directed by Oscar Winner Peter Farrelly and stars Zac Efron and Russell Crowe.

The movie begins with Chickie Donohue and his friends gathered around the bar, mourning their latest friend killed during the war. Sitting around the bar, they all seemed slightly upset about how the news portrayed the soldiers. The Colonel (Bill Murray) mentions that the soldiers see these reports, which can’t make them feel good. So Chickie jokingly comes up with the idea of how he can show support to their friends in the war by delivering them beer.

Of course, no one believed Chickie would do it, let alone be capable of pulling off such a crazy and stupid idea. However, after one of the soldier’s mothers came to bring him something, Chickie started to feel that obligation to make this happen. After some digging, resourcing, and against the better judgment of literally everyone in his life, Chickie goes off to Vietnam.

"Is war good or bad? It’s the age old question."

The movie begins very much with the old school style of thinking from our older generation, with people like The Colonel saying, “whatever they say, we do.” So men go to war, fight for their country, and maybe come home to their families. And if they don’t, they die heroes. However, amid the Vietnam War, people started to question whether or not the US needed to be involved at all, and wondered why we were sending over so many kids to just die.

Now, sure, the script might ruffle some feathers when it comes to the idea of war and that is fine, but I think the bigger picture of the movie was the evolution of Chickie and the way all the events that happened in the film altered his thought process on life. You can agree or disagree about the movie’s message, but we all can learn from Chickie. On the surface, we often can think one way, but if we open our minds to the idea that we might be wrong, at that point, we begin to grow and learn as human beings. You don’t always have to end up agreeing with the other person, but you at least gave someone the chance to form their thoughts and understand where they were coming from.

Zac Efron gives a career-best performance in The Greatest Beer Run Ever

Speaking of Chickie, I’ve been a big advocate of Zac Efron’s for a long time and always felt like he had the type of dramatic performance that would turn heads and I wasn’t wrong. Although, at times, I felt like Efron was far too good-looking in the movie, he does a great job of conveying the story with conviction. It didn’t matter who was on the screen opposite of Efron, he was the person you couldn’t keep your eyes off of (not just because of his looks either). He made you feel every emotion that Chickie was going through and this is easily the most impressive performance from him to date.

That said, I only have a few nitpicks about the movie that could’ve made it better. First, I didn’t love the first act as I thought it was a little slow and took time to get off its feet. Second, it’s about 15 minutes too long, which causes the end to drag just a little bit. Last, I wanted more Russell Crowe because he was great in this.

On the direction side of things, Peter Farrelly has this moment where Chickie and Coates (Crowe) are having a conversation that leads to their area being bombed and the moments that followed was one of the best-directed sequences in any film this year. It was a pulsating, edge-of-your-seat moment that genuinely took your breath away. In addition, Farrelly had several jaw-dropping shots throughout this movie.

Overall, The Greatest Beer Run Ever is a captivating look at one mans insane and wild, yet heroic, journey to not only show his friends love but learn so much about himself along the way. If you have the chance to find a theater playing this, it plays incredible on the big screen, but either way, I would recommend checking it out on Friday, Sept. 30.

The Greatest beer Run Ever hits Apple TV+ (and select theaters) on Sept. 30.