I first became aware of Tropic Thunder, when I saw the trailer at the midnight screening of "The Dark Knight". The Trailer was blew me away, but I was still leery of the film.
Mainly because calling myself a Ben Stiller fan is a lie, I have no interest in telling. I've enjoyed him in some movies (Dodgeball, Meet The Parents,). But he's the epitome of Hit or Miss. Same goes that films second leading star Jack Black. It was clips of Robert Downey Jr. playing a black man (who bares a odd resemblance to Don Cheadle) that pretty much guaranteed I'd be seeing this film.
And needless to say this movie completely shattered my expectations. By managing to consolidate more laugh out loud moments them any other comedy I've seen this year.
The plot of Tropic Thunder goes exactly like this. A big budget war movie is being made by a first time director and a hard assed heartless producer staring 3 big name actors. The filming going terribly for a variety of reasons. The director(Steve Coogan) is incompetent, The actors are divas with massive insecurity issues, and the producer is threatenting to pull the plug on the whole production if things don't turn around.
In a last ditch effort to save the film, the director drops the actors in the middle of Vietcong jungle, with hopes of adding gritty realism. But unknowingly lures the crew into the hands of a dangerous Asian drug cartel ...… and although they think they’re secretly being filmed for the movie, they’re actually in the middle of a fight for their lives.
This movie is an impressive satire about Hollywood, actors, rappers turned actors, acting, agents, directors, writers, trailers and egos, this is all accomplished by some witty dialogue and and exceptionally clever cameos.( A well Known Sceintologist gives scene stealing performance). In an era that has been filled with pseudo parody films (Epic Movie, Meet The Spartans, etc.) It's great to see a true satire with legitimate laughs.
Robert Downey Jr. continues his breakthrough year as Tropic Thunder's human highlight reel. Downey is an absolute marvel as Kirk Lazarus, a Australian actor who has won five Oscars and has surgically dyed his skin to transform himself into a black man. The character is a riff on overly commited method actors, Lazarus is so committed is he to this role that he remains in character at all times, seemingly convinced that he is actually black. "I don't drop character till the DVD commentary".
As the movie starts we’re treated to 4 fake trailers, each staring one of the 4 main actors in the movie. The trailers are designed to not only be funny, but also to introduce us to the characters. Sweet heavens THEY WERE HILARIOUS! But they weren’t just hilarious, they were also a very creative and effective way to get us to know the main players before the “story” of the movie got started.
The story is isn't great by any means, and doesn't make any sense but all that is secondary. The ultimate goal of a comedy is to be FUNNY and Tropic Thunder exceeds that with ease. In an era that has been filled with pseudo parody films (Epic Movie, Meet The Spartans, etc.) It's great to see a true satire with legitimate laughs.
8.5 out of 10.
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