Review: Tropic Thunder (2008)

[Homer Yen]

"Tropic Thunder" - Bullets, Banter, and Belly Laughs
by Homer Yen
(c) 2008

Ben Stiller's films have always given me an opportunity to use
different adjectives to describe them.  There is the one that is
vaguely amusing ("Zoolander"), fluffy ("A Night at the Museum"), corny
("Dodgeball"), and vile ("The Heartbreak Kid").  And now with "Tropic
Thunder", I can use the one that I've always wanted to use: hilarious.
 After his many years in the film business, Ben Stiller has learned
from his shortcomings, and he has crafted a surprisingly insightful
comedy that ends the summer on a hilarious note.

This is one of those films where the film trailer does that actual
movie no justice whatsoever.  It certainly isn't about a military
operation in the middle of the Southeast Asia jungle, although it kind
of is.  It certainly isn't supposed to be suspenseful, although it
manages to be.  Its material is guaranteed to offend someone, yet
everyone laughs.
It's really an audacious piece of commentary that slaps the Hollywood
establishment in its face.

Ben Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, a fading action star too vapid for
words.  Jack Black plays Jeff Portnoy, a flatulent and loose-cannon
comic actor.  Robert Downey Jr. plays 5-time Oscar winner Kirk
Lazarus, who will do anything to throw himself into a role.  These
three are introduced to the audience through a series of fake movie
trailers.  Downey's movie trailer is undeniably funny, cringe-worthy,
and blasphemous at the same time.  These first 10 minutes should
filter out any people that shouldn't belong there.

These three moviestars have been tapped to star in a mega-production
called "Tropic Thunder", which tells of a suicide mission during the
Vietnam War to rescue a commander named Four Leaf Tayback (Nick
Nolte).  This project becomes a nightmare for the ungifted, rookie
director (Steve Coogen).  The actors need to be ridiculously pampered,
and the actors' egos get in the way at every opportunity.  The
director decides to fly them inland, hoping to scare the actors into
an authentic performance.

However, ignorance and luck come together as they unknowingly encroach
upon a drug lord's territory.  The actors can't really decide at first
if this is all part of the director's plan or if they're in serious
trouble.  And, then something unexpected happens.  Their oversized
egos create lots of laughs as they debate the reality of their
predicament.  And, the film is suspenseful because it can ramp up the
violence and the thrills when in "R-rated" territory.

The laughs come from the most subversive of places, including the
unexpected demise of one of the characters, someone playing with a
severed head, and Tobey McGuire thinking sinful thoughts.  Yet,
"Tropic Thunder" isn't so much a comedy as it is a jab at the
Hollywood establishment.  I give Ben Stiller credit for his audacity
in hinting that Hollywood is full of two-faced, me-first, unrelenting
power brokers.  And, that point is riotously illustrated with the
character, Les Grossman (played brilliantly by an unrecognizable Tom
Cruise) who is sort of the anti-Jerry Maguire studio exec.  The point
of that character is that when a project makes lots of money, all will
be forgiven.  And with "Tropic Thunder", Ben Stiller will either fade
away like Sinead O'Connor or will find himself as one of the Top 25
Most Powerful Hollywood Celebrities.  I say, he'll be one of the Top
25.  "Tropic Thunder" is ridiculously fun.

Grade:	A-

S:	2 out of 3
L:	4 out of 3
V:	2 out of 3