[FILM]
THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER
“Dude, I asked for a Babycham.”
★★★ OUT 30 SEPTEMBER (APPLE TV+) / CERT TBC / 127 MINS
DIRECTOR Peter Farrelly
CAST Zac Efron, Russell Crowe, Bill Murray, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis
PLOT New York, 1967. While drinking at a bar, John ‘Chickie’ Donohue (Efron) hatches a hare-brained plan: travel to the frontline of the Vietnam War and bring his pals a few beers as a show of support. When faced with the reality, however, Chickie’s experience becomes more than just a drunken bet.
“DUMBEST THING I ever heard,” is how one character describes the big plan behind The Greatest Beer Run Ever. It seems appropriate that the filmmaker behind it all is something of an expert in the dumb field: Peter Farrelly, the co-director of Dumb And Dumber, among other goofy, gross-out ’90s comedies. But this is late-period Farrelly. Like his Oscar-winning 2018 dramedy Green Book, we find the filmmaker retaining some level of humour, but trousering the dick jokes in favour of a real-life tale and more serious subject matter.