The Greatest Beer Run Ever: How Zac Efron's Latest Movie Portrays Corruption During War

Based on a true story, Chickie Donohue (Zac Efron) sets on a journey to deliver beer to his friends who are serving in Vietnam. Chickie witnesses the war corruption from politicians.

“Look, I know our granddad's and our dads they went over to Europe to save the world and I would put today's guys up there with them any day… But I'm not so sure we're saving the world this time.”

The above is a quote in the movie from Zac Efron (portraying Chickie Donohue) after witnessing shading events in Vietnam. Prior to the journey, Chickie was a “listen to leaders without questions” type of citizen. But after witnessing lies from politicians, and several shading actions by the US military (including the CIA), he returns a changed person who would question everything.

Image still of Zac Efron in The Greatest Beet Run Ever

In his hunt for friends from the bar in Inwood, New York, Donohue found Rick Duggan, far left, of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), at Landing Zone Jane in northernmost South Vietnam. The men are holding a bottle of whiskey. Donohue’s Pabst Blue Ribbon is waiting in the lower left corner. (Courtesy John Donohue)"I was a staunch supporter of the war, but when I got there, I saw things that just weren't right, and it was just false, totally false." – Chickie Donohue

Chickie says that he returned home with a clearer understanding of the truth about the war and that what he witnessed while he was there didn't change his respect for the young men fighting, but it did change his opinion about the conflict.

“I had believed that we were winning because I'd believed what our leaders were saying.” – Chickie Donohue

However, being boots on the ground in Vietnam and conversing with old neighborhood friends convinced him that American politicians were lying and the war was not going well and it might not end in America's favor.

We can relate Chickie’s experience with what we are hearing today in Ukraine:

• Ukraine's military fired on their own civilians and used those deaths as propaganda while blaming Russia for those deaths.

• The Biden Administration continues to pour funds into a war they’re saying “we are winning,” but things appear to show the opposite.

The movie ends perfectly with a quote from Chickie that indicates he’s no longer going to blindly follow leaders:

“…gotta change a few things such as little less drinking a little more thinking”