16 Best Robin Williams Movies Ranked

Williams had his first brush with Oscar glory with his energetic leading turn in Barry Levinson's comedic drama. "Good Morning, Vietnam" utilizes all of the actor's greatest skills — his mastery of mimicry, his boundless improvisational energy, his deep humanity — to create a tour-de-force showcase for him.  

He plays Adrian Cronauer, a motormouth DJ assigned to the U.S. Armed Forces Radio during the Vietnam War. Cronauer uses humor like a weapon, riffing for hours in front of the microphone for the amusement of American soldiers fighting in battle. But as the horrors of the war confront him, his armor of treating everything as a joke slowly starts to crumble.

Williams is dazzling in the role, which Roger Ebert called "far and away the best work [he] has ever done in a movie." That's because, he added, "his own tactics are turned against him." For an actor who often used his own comedic brilliance as a shield, it's a stunningly revealing performance. In addition to his Oscar nomination, Williams also won the Golden Globe and competed at BAFTA for the role.