We have all heard the phrase ‘never judge a book by its cover’ and the same can also apply to ‘never judge a film by its title’. I first saw the title ‘The Greatest Beer Run Ever’  and the title worked, It got my attention. I thought the title looked crazy and perhaps was something like ‘The Cannonball Run’ (which I love), but I didn’t really pay too much attention to it, then I saw the trailer a few weeks ago in the run up to the films release on Apple TV, and I watched the trailer as I’m a fan of Zac Efron and Russell Crowe, and to be honest I wasn’t sure what to make of the trailer. It looks like a fun odd movie, where a guy comes up with a crazy idea to head from New York all the way to Vietnam to deliver some cans of beer. Yep that’s odd isn’t it, and looks like a bonkers premise for a film. But then I read the tag line on the poster and trailer and saw ‘Based On A True Story’. Surely not! What sort of crazy person would head from the US to Vietnam during the Vietnam war to deliver some cans of beer to his friends. Well that’s an easy answer John ‘Chickie’ Donohue , that’s who and yes The Greatest Beer Run Ever is based on a true story, and so  I knew I had to check the film out. 

With a crazy premise and a crazy title, what we get with The Greatest Beer Run Ever is a cracker of a war drama, wonderfully put together in every way. Based on the 2017 novel written by authors John ‘Chickie’ Donohue and J T Molly, We see ‘Chickie’ spending lots of time in his local bar (run by The Colonel, played by Bill Murray) and one night makes the off the cuff promise that he will take a bag full of beers to his serving friends in Vietnam. At first his friends think that its the drunk ‘Chickie’ talking, but soon they realise that he is serious, and so ‘Chickie’ sets off with the plan (although its a very non planned plan) to deliver on his promise.    

Its hard to compare The Greatest Beer Run Ever to any other film to let you know what sort of film you’ll expect, but I will say that this is easily one of the most insane stories but also wonderful war stories that I’ve seen and heard for quite a while. the film had me hooked for the full two hours as ‘Chickie’ runs from dangerous experience to dangerous experience in a slightly more serious tone than the war scenes in Forrest Gump. The Greatest Beer Run Ever is one of those films that if you watched it and didn’t know it was based on a true story that you’d think the script was just crazy and so far fetched, but its not. The film does that thing I love at the end of a true story when it shows you the faces of the real people the story is about and also gives you text about them. So make sure you stick around for that. 

I love it when I get something wrong about a film, and love it more than I think ‘oh ill give it a go then’ and find out that the film I’m watching is a gem!   The Greatest Beer Run Ever is a gem of a film and I highly recommend it. If you think like me, that its a crazy title and the film looks  ‘silly’,  then think again. Behind that bonkers title is a film that you’ll watch, one that you’ll love, and one that you’ll end up recommend to your movie fan friends. (I know I will be doing)