Growing up, my friends and I had a rule that we had to honor all of our drunken promises. Most of the time, the promises were simply to get together the next day, go golfing, catch a Mariners game together, etc. Other times the promises might be prone to a bit more regret, like running a 5k the following day. But no drunken promise ever quite reached the level of Chickie Donahue's (Zac Efron) promise to his buds at the local watering hole. 

A staunch supporter of the Vietnam War, Chickie bemoans the protestors and the negative media coverage of the war. It gave him the feeling that his buddies fighting and dying over there deserved more support from folks at home than they were getting. So one night, when confronted with a question of what he is actively doing for his buddies, he makes a drunken promise to hop onto a merchant marine vessel bound for Vietnam and bring his boys some beers. Based on a remarkable true story, this follows Chickie making good on his promise to march some beers into a war zone and hopefully march his way out. 

This movie, written and directed by Peter Farrelly, approaches the serious topic of war in a lighthearted manner. The character Chickie's naive behavior leads to some comedic moments, but the movie still highlights the severity of the atrocities of war. While there are some issues with the balance between humor and drama, this film stands out as a unique experience because it doesn't exclusively follow the typical "war is hell" narrative.

It has some stilted dialogue at times, and its overarching themes are overly simplistic (war bad, soldiers good), but overall this is still a solidly entertaining watch. Cinematically, it doesn't necessitate a trip to the theater, but “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” is worth streaming when you get a chance. 

— 3.5 / 5 ⭐