Rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material.
107 Minutes
Directed By: Ben Stiller
Written By: Ben Stiller and Justin Theroux
Staring: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, Steve Coogan, Brandon T. Jackson, and Bill Hader.
Same thing happened to me when I played Neil Armstrong in Moonshot. They found me in an alley in Burbank trying to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere in an old refrigerator box. -Kirk Lazarus
Synopsis
Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.
Review
Tropic Thunder was unquestionably a silly film that boasted an original plot with some great tongue in cheek humour. With no remorse for it’s victims, the insane plot of Tropic Thunder suffered from some of the same complications the character’s in it’s movie did. The issue was obviously some pretty big stars who often stole the scene individually but rarely as a unit. Jack Black played a typical role for himself exhibiting the same excessive physical comedy that he does in most of his films. If you like Jack Black, you will laugh. If you don’t, you will scratch your head. Ben Stiller rose above himself a bit and really embraced his part. As for Robert Downey Jr., he simply stole every scene he was in as Kirk Lazarus. His performance was strangely poignant in the middle of the nonsense of the movie, but it seemed that was the case with his character as well. It was great all the actors got to shine and get so carried away, but it was unfortunate that the movie as a whole didn’t gel together and suffered for it.
Without any real sense of pacing or direction the film constantly felt off kilter, but it made up for by making you laugh on a regular basis. The actors in the jungle and each of them perceiving their fate in different manners was hysterical, as it allowed each “real” actor to do their own thing. The shots back to L.A. where Matthew McConaughey and Tom Cruise were busy behaving outrageously as well didn’t always make sense either. Some of the events and reactions of the character’s were just so ridiculous it was impossible not to just give in and chuckle.
What Tropic Thunder added up to was a film with scenes that didn’t necessarily go together or have any real point with the plot, but gave you a lot of individual moments to laugh your butt off. It was without question a clever creation, that failed in it’s execution as an entirety but still managed to shell out random doses of laughter. Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Kirk Lazarus alone was worth it’s rental, along with some of the Ben Stiller moments. Tropic Thunder may have been a mess, but it was a charming and amusing mess.
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