(2008, 110 min) While Friedberg and Seltzer are off making yet another shallow Hollywood movie, Ben Stiller steps up to the plate and reminds us all just how funny a good parody can be. Equal parts Hearts of Darkness and Rambo, with the plot of The Three Amigos thrown in for cohesion, Tropic Thunder demonstrates remarkable maturity by Stiller, especially in his enthusiasm to let the spotlight shine on his terrific costars.
That's not to say that, as meatheaded action star Tugg Speedman, Stiller doesn't give it his all. He's remarkably ripped, and Tugg is ready to create his masterpiece: An epic Vietnam movie that will leave men cheering and women weeping. His last movie, Simple Jack, was an epic failure despite his immersive performance. As multiple-award-winning Australian actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.) points out, "You went full-on retarded," and you have to only be kinda retarded like Forrest Gump to win Oscars.
Lazarus would know about great acting. He's so far into his character that he's sporting full-on blackface and won't stop talking like Shaft even when the camera is off. The joke of an American playing an Australian playing an African American is perfect enough, but the great Downey, Jr. not only pulls it off on a comic level but also an artistic level. No wonder he gets the most screen time.
The third amigo actor is Fats Portnoy (Jack Black), popular among kids but attempting his adult breakthrough despite his crippling heroin habit. Thrust into the jungle for their epic, things go so badly that they end up battling druglords and don't realize that it's not part of the script. Black has a grand time as heroin addict facing a mountainous raw supply, with typical comic demons in tow.
Remarkably, Stiller also finds plenty of time for Matthew McConaughey to satirize Jerry Maguire, playing Speedman's protective agent (complete with a kinetic Simple Jack standee in his office). Last but not least, the great (yes I said "great") Tom Cruise one-upping his performance in Magnolia as a vile, balding, fat studio head who at one point tells one of the druglords to "take a giant step back and FUCK your FACE!!!" Hollywood has plenty of room for creative vulgarity, and Cruise delivers.
No scattershot comedy is perfect, however, and there are weaknesses: Steve Coogan seems lost as the snivelling director, and Brandon T. Jackson wastes space as the moral compass, seemingly an apologia for the intentionally offensive blackface (and his closeted gay subplot doesn't ring true either). But there's so much good stuff (I didn't even get to Nick Nolte as the hypocritical inspiration for the movie, or Danny McBride as the too-eager munitions expert, or the legitimately frightening druglord played by 11-year-old Brandon Soo Hoo) that you will probably laugh harder than at any other movie this year. And seriously, look for Downey, Jr. at the Oscars this year... for real.
© TLA Entertainment Group
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