Cinefantastique Online

There is a little, teeny-tiny film called TROPIC THUNDER out there now that does a lot of film & TV gibing. Is it offensive? Yes, I can certainly see where it could be, especially regarding its handling of the subject of war. Politically incorrect? Pretty much. Overly stuffed with foul language? Yes. Crude? Without a doubt. Waggish? Oh yeah.

That all sounds pretty much like a tailor made guy flick, but you know what? The girls in the theater I was in were laughing just as much as the guys. Maybe we boys have been a bad influence on them. Or maybe TROPIC THUNDER is just friggin’ funny. Well, it’s safe to say that it’s the latter, though I have to warn some of you, it’s not for the particularly sensitive. But hey, can a film that lovingly throws in homages to (or spoofs of) greats like the original STAR TREK TV series, PLATOON, JAWS, APOCOLYPSE NOW, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, RISKY BUSINESS and more be all bad? I say uh-uh, baby. And I have to admit I found that STAR TREK bit particularly nostalgic. To me the look of terror on Ben Stiller’s face as it looked like Captain Kirk was definitely a goner was priceless (mainly because that very episode was one of the first things that scared me as I watched it when I was a kid).

Some of the other film or TV related gags are a bit more subtle, so you’ll want to be paying attention for their moments. How all those bits get crammed into a movie about a bunch of actors and filmmakers who are trying to create a serious, expensive & epic war movie and wind up finding themselves thrown into the real thing because they’re not “feeling” it or getting the right moments on film is just part of the fun.

Oh yes, there’s much more, dear reader. If you haven’t heard yet, Robert Downey Jr. (as a serious academy award winning Australian actor named Kirk Lazarus) gives his second knockout performance this year. Now, I have to admit that I’ve never been a big Downey Jr. fan. I’ve always found him a little smug and smirky. It’s usually seemed as if he were winking a bit at the fact that he knew he was just making a movie. However, he has aged well, and those traits I just mentioned served him perfectly for his character in IRON MAN. Still, after his two performances this summer I’d like to go on record as saying that I wish the Oscars looked a little more favorably on comedy because Mr. Robert Downey Jr. knocked it out of the park as a serious thespian who undergoes a “pigment augmentation” procedure so that he, as a blonde-haired-blue-eyed-actor, can portray a black soldier in the midst of a Southeast Asian war. I mean, we’re talking about a guy who when told to snap out of character and get back to reality replies, “Man, I don’t drop character until I’m finished with the DVD commentary.” There is more difficulty, I think, in his performance than it might first appear. Then there’s that Australian accent he flawlessly sports. He was just a joy to watch.

Let us not forget about Ben Stiller, though. He plays actor Tugg Speedman, who made a bundle portraying a macho action hero in the extremely repetitive SCORCHER action film series. But that series is fizzling and so is Speedman’s career. His hope is that this dramatic role will catapult him to a new level as an actor. He tried once before in an intended sentimental drama about a “retard,” but that was a disaster and we get to hear a little philosophizing as to why that portrait—as well as Sean Penn’s I AM SAM outing in 2001—failed.

Stiller wore four hats on this big-budget comedy: actor, co-writer, co-producer and director. Nice job on all counts too. The only problem I had with him was when he would slip into the character type he’s played in virtually all of his other films. It’s beginning to come off as tiresome and too whiney. I thought this was an opportunity for him to really take things in a different direction, but there were a few scenes in which he didn’t quite cut the mustard for me on that level.

His screenplay (with co-writers Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen) is witty, gutsy and funny. I don’t think I’ve seen a funnier film yet this year. I have to admit that I’m generally a little sensitive to things like war, crude language and fart jokes, but by and large I was able to get past that in this film.

However, I did find myself looking around in embarrassment after laughing at some of that stuff. Then there were the jokes involving an endangered species and kids; generally off limits in your average movie, but not here, and I still laugh when I think about them. As a director he’s gained extra assuredness after some of his previous efforts, ZOOLANDER, CABLE GUY and REALITY BITES among them. He’s not afraid to toy with his subject matter either. However, the pokes he takes at Hollywood are done with affection; there is no real bite to them and unlike some, I didn’t find the movie to be overly bold on that level, though it was assertive in its sense of humor. I’ll tell you that only one person gets killed in the film (not counting those who die in the make-believe war footage) and based on who it is, I’d say that’s a fun little statement.

Stiller evinced a sure hand when casting the film. Downey Jr. I already mentioned, but Jack Black as the gross-out comedy actor Jeff Portnoy gave just about my favorite performance of his, and Brandon T. Jackson (CUTTIN DA MUSTARD) and Jay Baruchel (KNOCKED UP) held their own with their costars as Alpa Chino and Kevin Sandusky, respectively. Nick Nolte, Tobey Maguire and Tom Cruise put in unforgettable cameos as well. But that’s all I’ll say about them. The rest you get to find out for yourselves. Just know that Cruise really cuts loose. And Matthew McConaughey delivers an appropriately chewy performance as Speedman’s agent, Rick Peck, who likes to go by the moniker “the Pecker.” He hasn’t been much help with Speedman’s lagging career lately, so he grasps at the only thing he can to make himself feel significant, a minor oversight involving the availability of a TiVo unit for his star, which his contract calls for and which did not arrive on location for him. Go get ‘em, Peck! You fight for your client, my man!

What with the f-word avalanche, gross-out site gags, flatulence jokes and what all, this ain’t Shakespeare, but it sure is funny. And it was sprinkled with just enough geek-boy jokes to make me feel all warm and squishy inside.

TROPIC THUNDER (DreamWorks Pictures, 2008; 106 mins.) Directed by Ben Stiller. Screenplay by Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen. Story by Ben Stiller and Justin Theroux. Produced by Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfield and Eric McLeod. Music by Theodore Shapiro. Cinematography by John Toll. Production Design by Jeff Mann. Art Direction by Richard L. Johnson and Dan Webster. Edited by Greg Hayden. Cast: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Brandon T. Jackson, Jay Baruchel, Steve Coogan, Bill Hader, Nick Nolte, Danny McBride, Matthew McConaughey, Brandon Soo Hoo, Reggie Lee, Trieu Tran, and Tom Cruise. MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material.