Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at 9:15PM Movie Review - 'Tropic Thunder'
Tropic ThunderStarring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey, Jr.
Directed by Ben Stiller
Rated R
There have been an awful
lot of movies to skewer Hollywood over the years. The problem with most of
them, even the good ones like Robert Altman’s The Player, is that
they’re a bit too inside. They’re funnier to the actors and agents and
producers who read the scripts than they are to everyday moviegoers.
Very few movies have taken aim at the goose that laid the golden egg in a language your parents would readily understand, or your kids, for that matter. Part of that is to be expected, though; we’ve been taught to believe Hollywood movers and shakers have their own language, so we expect some inside jokes. But not many movies satirizing the motion picture industry have done so as completely or hilariously as Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder.
The beauty of this movie is that it would work with the same parts even without the daggers it constantly flings at the industry. Tugg Speedman (Stiller) is the world’s biggest fading action star. The world loved him in Scorcher, as the only man who could save the world from a cataclysmic climate change. By the time he starred in Scorcher VI, as the Earth was facing an ice age, the world didn’t love him nearly as much.
To change his image, Speedman took the role of a retarded stable boy in the weepy, Oscar-ready drama, Simple Jack, but the move and the movie backfired.
Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) has made his name as a flatulent comedian. You roll your eyes, but many have taken a similar road to success.
And then there’s Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), who might be the world’s greatest actor. He has five Academy Awards and to play the role of Sgt. Osiris in the movie Tropic Thunder, he undergoes a pigment change, the first step in his process of becoming “black” for the role.
For obvious reasons, these styles clash on set, overwhelming rookie director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan). Within five days, the most expensive war movie ever made, is already a month behind schedule. But Cockburn and the man whose experiences in Vietnam inspired the Tropic Thunder story, Sgt. Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte), devise a plan to put the prima donnas out in the middle of the same Vietnamese jungle to shoot the movie “guerilla style.”
Things do not go according to what little plan there is and soon the three stars and two actors on their way up - the rapper Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) and quirky teen Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel) - are facing a very real enemy, a gang of heroin dealers whose guns shoot real bullets. The actors, particularly Speedman, just think this is all part of the movie.
There aren’t many corners of the entertainment industry safe from Stiller’s broad-brush approach. Entertainment/tabloid shows, agents, actors, directors, studio hacks, award shows, trailers, product placement, budgetary waste, and especially executives are all shown no mercy in the script, which Stiller co-wrote with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen.
Those are the more obvious targets. However, Stiller, as director, has made his movie about the movie adhere to the same rules a $200 million war epic would. The musical cues are all exactly what you’d think they’d be, with “Sympathy for the Devil,” Steppenwolf’s “The Pusher,” and the great Motown protest songs, “Ball of Confusion” by the Temptations and “War.” Stiller uses more action than would ever really be necessary, just like a standard war movie, and the stunts, explosions, and effects would make this a convincing war epic, which is exactly what it wants to be. Well, kind of.
There have not been many funny movies this summer. Step Brothers is hysterical, but there’s absolutely no story, so it’s afforded the great luxury of doing whatever the hell it wants for a laugh. The edge goes to Tropic Thunder, which not only manages to make a point or two about the oblivious nature of Hollywood and those who breathe it in, but it underlines those points with some of the biggest laughs in a long, long time.
The characters are perfectly devised and the performances hold nothing back. You may already have noted Downey’s otherworldly transition as something to watch for, but there is a cameo – in a movie filled with tremendous cameos – that gives Downey a run for his money. But I wouldn’t dare give that away here.
Reader Comments (7)
I am very happy to read this. Step Brothers and Pineapple Express were big letdowns for me so I hope it is as good as everyone says it is.
I totally agree. Step Brothers has more laughs, but this is the better picture. The actor in the cameo you mention has never been funnier.
Robert Downey Jr. is amazing. You know it's him but you still get lost in his character. The un-named cameo is great, I haven't seen that much good stuff from that actor in a while. I also liked the actor who played Stiller's agent. I don't know if that is considered a cameo also but I thought it was an excellent choice. The rest of the main actors are spot on and the music is great but the piece that I thought was amazing was the cinematography. John Toll did an excellent job and even though comedies don't usually get considered during award season, his work should definately be considered.
Step Brothers has more laughs? You must be a retard. Step Brothers is trash compared to this.
Now, now. Only direct your stereotypically insensitive negative comments at your moderator...
No, no, I get it. He's making fun of people who make fun of retards. Well played, sir!
that cameo is gold...made me cry with laughter throughout. the whole moive is a blast and a must see.