Tropic Thunder
3/4
Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Tom Cruise, Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Nick Nolte, Tom Cruise, Steve Coogan
Rated R for Pervasive Language including Sexual References, Violent Content and Drug Material
If there's anything that deserves a send-up, it's Hollywood. With all the ass-kissing, self-promotion and ginormous egos running around, it's high time someone gave it all a middle finger. "The Player," which is as of yet unseen by me, did this in 1992, so I guess Ben Stiller thought it was time another round. Ben Stiller and his screenwriters are intelligent in the targets that they attack; tabloids, cross-marketing and method acting are just a few of their targets. Nothing about the MPAA, however, although one can understand their reluctance to openly attack that inexplicably powerful organization.
The plot has three actors: fading action star Tugg Speedman (Stiller), Oscar-winning actor Kirk Lazarus (Downey Jr) and comedian Jeff Portnoy (Black) shooting a war movie called "Tropic Thunder." Because of his stars' egos and the stress of coordinating the special effects, new director Damien Cockburn (Coogan) takes the advice of Four Leaf (Nolte), whose experiences are the basis for the film, and elects to shoot the movie guerrilla style. But when the stars run into some nasty drug dealers, they think it's just part of the shoot.
Stiller has lit a powderkeg with this movie by putting one of his stars in blackface (well, sort of...it's not in the style of racist caricatures). But there's a reason why it isn't offensive. First, Lazarus is treated as an object of derision; he's so in love with himself and method acting that it drives his fellow cast members up the wall. Second, there is a (real) black character who constantly points out the obvious. Lazarus serves to make fun of actors who think they can do anything and studios who would rather have a big name than someone who's actually fit for the role.
The acting is on the money. Ben Stiller is his usual reliable self. Tugg is a fading star, and Stiller gets a fair amount of mileage out of being an action hero veteran. Robert Downey Jr. is hilarious as Lazarus, especially since he becomes the very thing that he's parodying. Jack Black also has some funny moments as the heroin-addicted comedian. Brandon T. Jackson, Steve Coogan, Jay Baruchel and Matthew McConaughey (as Tugg's devoted agent) all provide solid support. Only Nick Nolte is miscast. His voice is so gritty to begin with that it's impossible for him to parody.
But the funniest performance goes to Tom Cruise, who plays the monomaniacal producer Les Grossman. Although his voice is too distinctive enough for it to be much of a surprise, the makeup job is hilariously bad (he looks a lot like Paul Giamatti on a bad day), and Cruise is clearly enjoying himself in the role.
The flaw with the film is that it's so concerned with satirizing Hollywood that it almost forgets to provide humor. The comedy is more of a wit variety rather than belly laughs, although there are a few of those (Cruise's scenes are a case in point). And some of the faux trailers at the beginning are cringe-humor, which I'm not particularly fond of.
Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Tom Cruise, Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Nick Nolte, Tom Cruise, Steve Coogan
Rated R for Pervasive Language including Sexual References, Violent Content and Drug Material
If there's anything that deserves a send-up, it's Hollywood. With all the ass-kissing, self-promotion and ginormous egos running around, it's high time someone gave it all a middle finger. "The Player," which is as of yet unseen by me, did this in 1992, so I guess Ben Stiller thought it was time another round. Ben Stiller and his screenwriters are intelligent in the targets that they attack; tabloids, cross-marketing and method acting are just a few of their targets. Nothing about the MPAA, however, although one can understand their reluctance to openly attack that inexplicably powerful organization.
The plot has three actors: fading action star Tugg Speedman (Stiller), Oscar-winning actor Kirk Lazarus (Downey Jr) and comedian Jeff Portnoy (Black) shooting a war movie called "Tropic Thunder." Because of his stars' egos and the stress of coordinating the special effects, new director Damien Cockburn (Coogan) takes the advice of Four Leaf (Nolte), whose experiences are the basis for the film, and elects to shoot the movie guerrilla style. But when the stars run into some nasty drug dealers, they think it's just part of the shoot.
Stiller has lit a powderkeg with this movie by putting one of his stars in blackface (well, sort of...it's not in the style of racist caricatures). But there's a reason why it isn't offensive. First, Lazarus is treated as an object of derision; he's so in love with himself and method acting that it drives his fellow cast members up the wall. Second, there is a (real) black character who constantly points out the obvious. Lazarus serves to make fun of actors who think they can do anything and studios who would rather have a big name than someone who's actually fit for the role.
The acting is on the money. Ben Stiller is his usual reliable self. Tugg is a fading star, and Stiller gets a fair amount of mileage out of being an action hero veteran. Robert Downey Jr. is hilarious as Lazarus, especially since he becomes the very thing that he's parodying. Jack Black also has some funny moments as the heroin-addicted comedian. Brandon T. Jackson, Steve Coogan, Jay Baruchel and Matthew McConaughey (as Tugg's devoted agent) all provide solid support. Only Nick Nolte is miscast. His voice is so gritty to begin with that it's impossible for him to parody.
But the funniest performance goes to Tom Cruise, who plays the monomaniacal producer Les Grossman. Although his voice is too distinctive enough for it to be much of a surprise, the makeup job is hilariously bad (he looks a lot like Paul Giamatti on a bad day), and Cruise is clearly enjoying himself in the role.
The flaw with the film is that it's so concerned with satirizing Hollywood that it almost forgets to provide humor. The comedy is more of a wit variety rather than belly laughs, although there are a few of those (Cruise's scenes are a case in point). And some of the faux trailers at the beginning are cringe-humor, which I'm not particularly fond of.
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