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"Tropic Thunder" is a spoof of war movies, specifically the Vietnam War film, a variety of movie that saw its heyday in the '70s and '80s. It cannot go unmentioned that the spoof genre itself flourished in the decades when Mel Brooks was king.
One will be hard-pressed to remember the last Vietnam War movie to hit theaters (Werner Herzog's "Rescue Dawn", while a story from the Vietnam War, is a small-scale character study that bears no resemblance to, say, "Platoon") and as far as the spoof genre goes, the only thing thrown our way since a certain British shag-a-dellic hipster has been the embarrassingly prolific stream of "Scary Movies" that have continued through "Date Movie" and "Epic Movie."
"Tropic Thunder" is miles beyond the above-mentioned comedies, padding a brisk, funny script with scenes of outrageous violence.
The cast is impressive. Ben Stiller (who directs and stars) gives a funny and thoroughly Stiller-esque lead performance as action star Tugg Speedman. The movie plunders as much of its comic bounty at Hollywood's expense as possible, skewering the industry at every turn.
The movie opens with a series of fabricated film trailers which serve a dual purpose of introducing us to the four main characters and being quite funny in and of themselves.
They also start a chain of cameos, which are a necessary addition of any good comedic jab at the industry, and play particularly well here. The best of these cameos (which I will leave a surprise) is by an unlikely actor who steals several scenes with dance numbers.
The plot revolves around the struggles that a team of actors face as they try to shoot a Vietnam epic in hopes of awards n. The cast of the film is fronted by Tugg Speedman (Stiller), fading action star.
Also taking part are comedian Jeff Portnoy (Black), actor Kirk Lazarus (Downey), recording star Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), and newcomer actor Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel).
The cast and crew find themselves having a number of problems, which come to a head when a crucial scene is blown (literally blown to smithereens by a trigger-happy Danny McBride) because Speedman and Lazarus spend time arguing about who should cry in the scene.
Watching as the movie is filmed is gruff war veteran Four Leaf Tayback, played by Nick Nolte who has long since gotten to the point where he doesn't have to play grisled because he is grisled. Tayback is the real life soldier whose story Speedman and co. are trying to film.
Tayback, watching the shambles of a film unfold pulls aside the director, Damien Cockburn, and gives him his two cents.
He growls to Cockburn that if he really wants to get somethign goof from his actors, he needs to give them a taste of the real thing.
Before long, the five stars are thrown into the jungle and told to find their way north. Once in the jungle, however, the quintet is soon discovered by real danger in the form of a local drug cartel.
The film succeeds mostly by merit of its dream comedy cast.
Most of "Tropic Thunder" is stolen by Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus, an Australian five-time Oscar winner who goes deep under cover in his role as an African American soldier.
Downey delivers every moment of this role with ferociously effective humor, and yet somehow, is never the most over-the-top thing on screen.
So consistent and convincing is the hilarious performance that Downey disappears into it. It does not hurt that he is also given the best lines, which he delivers with perfect timing.
And the performance is funny even in quieter moments, such as when Lazarus asks around a campfire whether or not the other guys have a special someone waiting for them. Downey's subtle, sly delivery in the scene works beautifully, culminating in one of the film's funniest lines.
Jay Baruchel fits like a glove as the young, geeky, nervous Sandusky; and there is a great sequence in which first Lazarus and then Speedman side up to Sandusky while he relieves himself and try to get him to take their side.
The cast is so big, however, that it runs into its own areas od weakness.Jack Black, Brandon T. Jackson and Steve Coogan (as frustrated director Damien Cockburn) are all underwritten.
Black does get some big laughs in a scene where he is tied to a tree in order to overcome his heroin addiction before a daring raid. Other than that, however, he spends too much time chewing at the scenery.
Steve Coogan, a great talent and staple of the British comedy scene does not do much at all with his brief screen time, though he does go out with a bang.
Also, the movie gives in a little too easily to some rather predictable cliches, most notably how the natives all love their prisoner, Speedman, after recognizing him from his failed movie "Simple Jack," in which the action star changed pace to play a mentally handicapped farmer.
The drug-runners then force Speedman to act out scenes from "Simple Jack" in a sequence that has earned "Tropic Thunder" a lot of objections from mentally handicapped advocate groups.
Deciding whether or not the "Simple Jack" gags cross any lines is left up to you but note that, offensive or not, the sequence is not particularly funny, and wastes opportunities to do much more creative things with the subplot of Speedman's captivity.
Stiller's funniest moment comes before he is captured in a scene where he is attacked by a jungle ctreature in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Overall, "Tropic Thunder" is a success and a lot of fun to watch, the kind of movie that one imagines would be incredibly fun to make.
The production value is top notch and the movie (set mostly in Vietnamese jungles) looks great. Ben Stiller, who directed and co-wrote the movie ,deserves a lot of credit for making a solid comedy.
Tropic Thunder a nice break from the Apatow comedy machine (whose "Pineapple Express" is also in theaters) that has dominated the genre of late. It is a very entertaining and often funny end-of-summer flick with a show-stealing performance by Robert Downey Jr. that more than lives up to the hype.
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