Tropic Thunder is a silly, silly movie about grotesque Hollywood stereotypes, with some war jokes thrown in for current relevance. A group of diva actors go into Vietnam to make a war movie, and when met with studio threats the director decides to crank up the heat by tossing his actors into the actual Vietnam jungle. Chaos ensues.
This movie is highly profane. It has a lot of well-known comedians in it, most of whom manage to be funny, and mock themselves a little while they’re at it. It will probably offend a lot of people. And yes, it had some good points.
1. Robert Downey Jr. can make even this funny.
Pigment alteration? Really?
Jack Black could not have played this character. Ben Stiller most definitely could not have played this character. An unknown would never have recovered. Only because he is Robert Downey Jr., and is actually capable of nuance, was this part funny. No, it was genius. For any Downey fan who is not drawn to the overdone slapstick, see this movie anyway. His performance is worth it.
2. As a Hollywood joke forced to recover from a heroin addiction, subtlety is not required from Jack Black…
And he certainly doesn’t try to deliver any. Black’s performance is full of top-of-the-lungs profane bellowing, madman ranting, and even a half-naked run through the mud while clutching a child and begging, “Don’t judge me!” This is Black at his finest because, while this part is insane, he is perhaps the only one who could have made it even remotely funny and not just over the top.
Drawback: after this, it will be difficult to pull off the transition to serious movies. He really didn’t reserve much for future dignity.
3. Jay Baruchel’s jungle trek monologues are perhaps the only natural moments in the movie.
In this nest of madmen, Baruchel’s character Kevin Sandusky (remember the name) is the one constant who may be recognizable as a real human being. He plays the nerd, the acting student, and the one who gets respect simply because he is “the only one who went to boot camp, and like, rehearsal.” During the many shots of the group trudging through the jungle, Baruchel can be heard talking somewhat endlessly. Perhaps one of the best moments of the movie (in the sense that it is totally unforced) is when Baruchel is rambling happily about Cliffhanger to absolutely no one, and one of his buddies screams suddenly for him to shut up. No overacting needed for that one.
4. Bill Hader and Tom Cruise are an unlikely but hilarious duo as agency executives.
Hader has pretty much transferred the exact same character he played in Superbad. That’s okay though, because it’s hilarious all over again. And thankfully, Cruise’s character is genuinely funny and does not require the audience to know that it’s him in a fat suit to be amusing (see John Travolta in Hairspray for an illustration of this faux paus).
5. Ben Stiller…
Well, his filmography just got longer.
