Tropic Thunder
Sunday, August 17, 2008
“The movie they think they’re making… isn’t a movie anymore.”
We just got back from seeing this one and it was way better than we expected. When it was over and the house lights came on, the couple behind us blurted out, “That was SOOO funny!” and “That was really, really, good!” lol… and it was. The audience as a whole [us included] laughed out loud so many times – it was a truly fun experience. My husband and I were blurting out some of the ridiculous lines as we were walking out, laughing all over again. I’d see this one again in the theater on a slow week, it was that good.
Starring Ben Stiller as the typical action-hero, typecast actor, ‘Tugg Speedman,’ who’s career is tanking [not unlike a certain Mission Impossible actor we all know and used to love], Robert Downey Jr. as the extreme Aussie method actor and winner of 6 Oscars, ‘Kirk Lazarus’, who goes into character for his role in ‘Tropic Thunder’ as a Black man, and doesn’t want to come out… Jack Black as the one-trick pony comedian ‘Jeff Portnoy,’ known for his white version of Big Mama’s House style movies where he plays every rude, gas-passing obese character himself – who longs to be taken seriously… Jay Baruchel as the young, skinny newbie actor ‘Kevin Sardusky’ who just wants to get laid… and Brandon T. Jackson as ‘Alpa Chino’, the rapper-turned-actor with a huge reputation for being a man-ho who pimps his energy drink ‘Booty-Juice’ on the side.
The movie’s spoof direct ‘Damien Cockburn’ [Steve Coogan] can’t get his primadonna actors to work together without trying to hog the scenes, so the movie ‘Tropic Thunder’ is way behind schedule and of course, over budget. To shake things up, Cockburn takes the advice of the story’s author, ‘Four Leaf Tayback’ [Nick Nolte], and decides to throw the actors into the Vietnam jungle with hidden cameras and plenty of rigged explosions to scare the crap out of them and capture more realistic, from-the-gut performances. And of course it all goes to hell … and it’s awesome.
There’s over-the-top gore, horrible action one-liners and plenty of toilet humor. There’s also some great guest star/cameo roles by Matthew McConaughy [watch his hair in his first scene], Nick Nolte, looking like his real-life mugshot the whole time and in being much like his tabloid-style self, he manages to be over-the-top dramatic and hilarious. And Tom Cruise in my favorite role of his EVER. He pokes fun at himself and does a cameo that is so out of character for him, but I won’t say any more than that. If you like slap-stick comedy or movie spoofs, this one is clever with plenty of stupid and lots of laughs. We loved it.
4 out of 5.
Add’l Info: Release Date: Aug 13, 2008 • Runtime: 107 minutes • Rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material • Photo credit: Merie Weismiller Wallace. © 2008 DreamWorks LLC. All Rights Reserved via allmoviephoto.com
Tropic Thunder is basically a really funny and clever war movie spoof. You’ll see tidbits from many of the big ones like Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Black Hawk Down, Tears of the Sun and more.
