DVD Review: Tropic Thunder 2-Disc Director's Cut
Ben Stiller's Latest Comedy Takes Stab at Demanding Hollywood Elite
Nov 25, 2008
Using a hilarious cast that works incredibly well together, funnyman Ben Stiller (Zoolander, A Night at the Museum, The Heartbreak Kid) directs this funny tribute to today's complicated world of Hollywood filmmaking, and the prima donna stars' clashing egos that often complicate the process.
Tropic Thunder Plot Overview
Newbie director Damian Cockburn (Steve Coogan) is attempting to direct the latest Hollywood mega budget blockbuster, Tropic Thunder, based on the best-selling book recounting the exploits of Vietnam veteran John "Four Leaf" Tayback (Nick Nolte), a double hand amputee.
Featuring the biggest stars in Hollywood, namely mega action star Tugg Speedman (this movie's director Ben Stiller), multiple Oscar winner and consummate method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), comedy hitman Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) rapper Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) and character actor Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel), all elements seem in place to produce the biggest war film ever made in the history of filmmaking. There's only one problem: the film is already a month over schedule, and they only have five days of filming done. Growing problems with the actors disagreeing over how to interpret their characters, and their motivations, threaten to ruin the movie.
These budget and schedule overruns draw the ire of Hollywood mogul Les Grossman (Tom Cruise, in an unforgettably comedic cameo), who issues an ultimatum to neophyte director Cockburn: bring these actors in line, or we're shutting production down.
Fearing that his dream project will be taken out of his hands, Cockburn (at Four Leaf's urging) decides to take his prima donna cast of high profile actors to the deep jungles of Vietnam. This way he can film the rest of the movie guerilla style, forcing his high-priced talent pool to live free of pampered amenities, allowing them to focus on their craft. Shortly thereafter, the cast lose their director to an old early 20th century landmine, however believe it is nothing more than the latest special effect, encouraging them to act on their own.
As they make their way to the alleged extraction point as per their script, this ragtag team of pseudo soldiers encounter real life dangers and situations, all the while believing that the enemy is populated with nothing more than extras, paid to play along with this group, Hollywood's action film royalty. The challenges they face as a team teach them humility, and the need to rely on each other, if they wish to survive the ordeal, real or fake.
Tropic Thunder Analysis
This is arguably the funniest movie by Stiller in quite a while. Relying on a great script, which draws on well known examples of superstar excesses known in Tinseltown, Stiller manages to poke fun at the world of actors' perks as a negotiating tool in today's Hollywood.
The overall product here is greatly improved by the ensemble cast, which is as diverse as the characters they play. One almost gets the impression that half of the time, the script may have been forgotten or set aside , so to allow for a large amount of improv, for better effect. A feature in the bonus disc, shows various takes on the same lines, with this intent.
Stiller shows shades of his Derek Zoolander character from the film of the same last name, in providing the audience with a naive, insecure actor, who is only too willing to do whatever it takes to be loved by his target demographic.
Jack Black is playing....well, a Jack Black-ish character, one you've seen in many other films, in this case a drugged-up variation of the zany chatacters he's played in older fare such as School of Rock, and Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny.
The most memorable part of Tropic Thunder, in this writer's opinion, is played by Robert Downey Jr., playing an overly prepared actor's actor, Kirk Lazarus. Through memorable faux trailers seen at the start of the film (the one being reviewed here, not the one in the movie), Lazarus' body of work reads like a perfect scorecard of histrionic excellence.
In the Tropic Thunder film shoot seen here, Lazarus undergoes a controversial pigmentation procedure, effectively making him dark skinned, so he can better portray the character Lincoln Osiris, a jive-talking, no-nonsense soldier hero. The fact that Lazarus stays in character when not shooting, is the source of many of the film's jokes which, in any other context, would come of as derogatory and sexist.
The rest of the cast is mostly forgettable, ironically being eclipsed by larger talents, such as Stiller, Black, and especially Downey.
Tom Cruise also appears in the film, as do Matthew McConaughey and several others is smaller roles.
Overall, this film is funny, clever, not too convoluted, basically a decent belly laugh gigglefest about the excesses seen in many film genres.
Tropic Thunder 2-Disc Director's Cut Special Features
One would expect a lot of valid extras from this two-disc set, however much of it is simply a redundant series of set design and biographical breakdowns of the cast within a cast, and the fun of shooting with this group of actors, on location.
Disc 2 of this set is rife with these, sadly the only worthwhile piece is a reprise of the skit the film's cast did for this past summer's MTV Movie Awards, where Stiller, Downey and Black trade barbs at each other's otherwise successful summer hits, namely Iron Man and Kung Fu Panda.
8 out of 10, for sheer laughter, and self-deprecating humor
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