Crack open a cold one and watch Zac Efron do the near impossible in The Greatest Beer Run Ever. An Apple TV+ original film, the Peter Farrelly-directed war drama dives into the depths of the Vietnam War and soaks itself in some Pabst Blue Ribbon along the way. Based upon the incredible true story, booze-guzzling New Yorker John “Chickie” Donohue (Efron) decides to do something with his life by leaving behind the concrete jungle and arriving in the actual jungle in Vietnam to deliver beers to various soldiers, including old friends from the neighborhood he grew up in.
The upcoming war drama marks another effort by Efron to break into more mature, dramatic roles. Earlier this year Efron starred in the remake of Stephen King's Firestarter (2022) as a father going to extreme lengths to protect his telekinetic daughter no matter what the cost, and he also starred as serial killer Ted Bundy in the 2019 Netflix original film, Extremely Wicked; Shockingly Evil and Vile. All significant departure from previous roles, Efron had previously been one of America’s biggest teen stars thanks to films like High School Musical, Hairspray, and 17 Again. He then continued down the comedic path with blockbuster hits Neighbors (2014) and Baywatch (2017), and with The Greatest Beer Run Ever, he’s embracing his natural comedic chops while leaning into a complex portrayal of a real-life figure.
The rest of the cast features Bill Murray (Lost in Translation) as The Colonel, a tough New York City bartender working at the local bar Chickie and his friends are regulars at, Doc Fiddler’s Pub. Academy-Award-winning actor Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind) plays Arthur Coates, a war photographer accompanying Chickie along the way as he delivers beer to the front lines. Breakthrough star Jake Picking (Hollywood) plays soldier Rick Duggan, an old friend of Chickie’s from the neighborhood now fighting in Vietnam, which in part serves as Chickie’s motivation for making the journey. The rest of the cast includes Ruby Ashburne Serkis (Becoming Elizabeth), Will Ropp (The Fallout), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Kyle Allen (The Path), and Matt Cook (Man with a Plan) as Lt. Habershaw.
Based upon the memoir The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty, and War written by John “Chick” Donohue, read on to find out when and where to watch the movie, and the true story behind a man with a dream of handing out beers to men on the frontline in Vietnam during 1968.
When and Where to Watch The Greatest Beer Run Ever
The Greatest Beer Run Ever will only be available to stream on Apple TV+ beginning Friday, September 30. No other streamer will have it, nor will it be available to rent on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, etc. To watch on Apple TV+, viewers must purchase a subscription that costs $4.99/ month to watch all original content, which includes both television series and movies.
If you want to watch The Greatest Beer Run Ever and don’t subscribe to Apple TV+, or are unwilling to do so, you are in luck. Though it’s streaming exclusively on Apple TV+, it was released in select theaters on September 23 and is still playing, you can check Fandango, AMC Theatres, Cinemark, Marcus Theatres, and more to see the showtimes at your local theater.
Watch the Booze-Soaked Trailer Below
It’s 1967 in New York City, a place where bell-bottoms rule the streets, coverage of the Vietnam War dominates the news, and alcohol is guzzled down at a local bar where a crazy idea is formed among drunks. Zac Efron plays John “Chickie” Donohue, a man on a mission who goes from being an aimless merchant seaman to running along the front lines in Vietnam with a massive bag of beer draped around his shoulders. Bill Murray makes an appearance in the trailer as a wise-cracking bartender serving beers, and Russel Crowe looks as cool as ever as a photographer accompanying Chickie on his journey, whose eyes are opened to the brutality of war as he aims to deliver beer to his friends fighting a seemingly meaningless war.
Who Made The Greatest Beer Run Ever?
Peter Farrelly is an Academy Award winner, best known for directing, co-writing, and co-producing Green Book, which won Best Picture in 2019. Primarily writing and directing comedies, Farrelly has co-written and directed various films with his brother Bobby Farrelly, including Dumb and Dumber, Something About Mary, and The Heartbreak Kid. With The Greatest Beer Run Ever, Farrelly directs a script he co-wrote with Brian Currie (Green Book) and Pete Jones (Hall Pass).
As the various streamers compete and release new films on a weekly basis, Apple TV+ is coming off a high of winning Best Picture at the 2022 Academy Awards with their family drama film, CODA. Casting off a hook and hoping it’ll catch something, The Greatest Beer Run Ever is potential bait for awards season thanks to Efron’s star power, and it is based upon a true story. Another sign that it’s hoping to make a splash and become a contender is the fact that it’s also getting a theatrical run, which is required to be considered for most awards.
What Is The Greatest Beer Run Ever About, and Is it Based on a True Story?
Yes, The Greatest Beer Run Ever is based upon a true story. Set in New York City in 1967, it follows the real-life escapades of John “Chickie” Donohue, a 26-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran working as a merchant seaman who has little aspirations in life. That all changes when he and his friends meet up at the local bar one night, and he is challenged to do something truly insane: make a beer run to Vietnam and deliver beers to all the soldiers from the neighborhood to let them know they’re still supported. Chickie accepts the challenge, and soon he’s on a boat traveling to Vietnam where he begins running across explosive war zones in the pursuit of handing out bottles of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
The movie is in part based upon the memoir under the same name written by Donohue, an acclaimed memoir published in 2020. Chronicling how the original idea came about, his experiences in Vietnam, and the impact it had on him as a veteran himself, the book is an insightful take on the brutalities of war. As all the various anti-war protests in America serve as a prevalent background to Donohue's story, he pays tribute to all the soldiers he visited while delivering beer in the unlikeliest of places.
More Vietnam War Movies to Watch if You Like The Greatest Beer Run Ever
Apocalypse Now - There’s no greater starting point for a movie purely dedicated to the mayhem and madness surrounding the Vietnam War than Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 war epic, Apocalypse Now. Starring Martin Sheen as Captain Willard, he’s given the top secret mission of trekking deep into the jungle to track down and assassinate the now insane Colonel Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando. Venturing into the heart of the jungle, Captain Willard’s crew of soldiers features Sam Bottoms as LSD tripping solider Lance B. Johnson, Albert Hall as Chief Petty Officer, Frederick Forrest as Jay “Chef” Hicks, and a then 17-year-old Laurence Fishburne as Tyrone “Mr. Clean” Miller. Apocalypse Now also notably features Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel William “Bill” Kilgore, and is considered one of the greatest films of all time thanks to its disturbing depictions of what war does to mankind, and the psychological scars it leaves behind.
The Sapphires - For a quirky, comedic approach covering the Vietnam War similar to The Greatest Beer Run Ever, try the musical drama, The Sapphires. Instead of being told from the perspective of a soldier, journalist, or politician, the movie follows the all-girl, Ingenious Australian women's musical act “The Sapphires” as they travel to Vietnam in 1968 to entertain the troops. Unique in that it views the war through a lens that’s never been explored before, Deborah Mailman, Sharie Shebbens, Jessica Mauboy, and Miranda Tapsell star as the members of The Sapphires, and a hilarious Chris Dowd co-stars as the talent scout who discovers them and accompanies them to Vietnam.
Born on the Fourth of July - Tom Cruise stars in one of his most acclaimed performances as a Vietnam War veteran in the biographical, anti-war film, Born on the Fourth of July. Known for doing his own death-defying stunts in the Mission Impossible and Top Gun films to name a few, Cruise takes a dramatic turn starring as real-life Sergeant Ron Kovic, a veteran who becomes paralyzed while serving in the Vietnam War and evolves into an outspoken anti-war advocate. Chronicling Kovic’s life before, during, and after the war, Cruise received his first Best Actor Academy Award nomination in addition to winning the Best Actor-Motion Picture Drama Award at the 1990 Golden Globes.
The Post - Swapping battlefields for newsrooms and typewriters, look no further than Steven Spielberg’s 2017 investigative journalism drama, The Post. Starring Meryl Streep as Katherine Graham, the owner, and publisher of The Washington Post, she goes head-to-head with corrupt politicians and the U.S. Government when she decides to publish The Pentagon Papers in 1971. Tracking America’s participation in Vietnam and Southeast Asia dating all the way back to the Truman administration in 1945, The New York Times gets blocked from publishing anything further related to the Pentagon Papers in the wake of writing various exposes on the government’s involvement, including that they knowingly lied to the public for decades. Graham must decide if she’s willing to forego decades-long friendships and alienation to deliver the truth to the public, and Tom Hanks co-stars as editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee as she makes a historical decision within American history.