Zac Efron stars as a New Yorker who volunteers to deliver beer to his buddies fighting in Vietnam in Apple Original Films’ The Greatest Beer Run Ever. If that description of Efron’s role sounds weird, consider the fact the film is based on an incredible true story.
Peter Farrelly, Pete Jones, and Brian Currie adapted John “Chickie” Donohue – the man Zac Efron plays – and Joanna Molloy’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty and War for the screen, with Farrelly directing.
In addition to Zac Efron, the cast includes Russell Crowe, Jake Picking, Will Ropp, Archie Renaux, Kyle Allen, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, and Bill Murray.
In an April 2020 interview with Publishers Weekly, the real Chickie Donohue explained what he did when he actually met up with his friends in-country.
“I went and patted them on the back and told them I cared for them, and their community cared for them,” said Donohue. “I told them we thought about them, we prayed for them. In the middle of that unrest, one side was condemning our own kids, and the other side was lying to us about the conditions. I did the best I could. I went and showed the guys who were really in harm’s way — and in fact dying — that we loved them.”
“What I love about this is there’s been Vietnam movies, but there’s never been one told from [this] point of view, and that’s what’s interesting,” said writer/director Peter Farrelly in an interview with People. “He’s looking at it from where America looked at it, not where the soldiers looked at it. They were in the throes of it, but we were on the outside looking in, and this is a guy who thought he knew what was going on from what he saw on the news. But he went over there and found out it was quite different.”
The Greatest Beer Run Ever will be released in select theaters and on Apple TV+ on September 30, 2022.
The Plot, Courtesy of Apple Original Films:
To show support for his neighborhood friends serving in Vietnam, Chickie Donohue (Efron) decides to do something totally outrageous: travel to the frontline by himself to bring the soldiers a little piece of home — their favorite can of American beer. However, what started as a well-meaning journey quickly turns into the adventure of a lifetime as Chickie confronts the reality of this controversial war and his reunions with his childhood buddies thrust him into the complexities and responsibilities of adulthood.
Based on an incredible true story, The Greatest Beer Run Ever is a heartfelt coming-of-age tale about friendship, loyalty and sacrifice.
