Just when I was beginning to think originality and a real attempt at trying to make people laugh in movies may be at an end, along comes Tropic Thunder. It seems like it has been a long time since a comedy was designed around actual comedy instead of dick jokes, fart jokes, making fun of fat people and embarrassing situations. Tropic Thunder is unique in its own right. This is a comedy with multiple layers and you almost can’t believe how much there is to it, considering the genre has become known for its simplicity. Ben Stiller has managed to make a satirical film clever enough to entertain and just dumb enough to cater to those unwilling to look beneath a film’s surface.
Stiller hasn’t gotten a laugh out of me for a long time (if ever), and while the trailers told me this was going to be a great film I remained reticent. I hoped for the best, but held on to my worries surrounding Stiller’s involvement. In recent history Stiller has become redundant, his films were carbon copies of the ones before them and I found myself doing my very best to avoid them. However, with Tropic Thunder he has reached back and forgotten the days of dress-up and character acting and just made a good movie. Having directed and co-written Tropic Thunder with Justin Theroux and Etan Coen, Stiller has redefined himself into a more relevant comedian. He proves he can adapt and grow as opposed to the recent rash of Judd Apatow productions that seem to keep failing the first grade.
Tropic Thunder centers on three big movie stars getting together for what is billed to be the greatest war movie of all-time. Stiller plays the action star Tugg Speedman, Jack Black plays the funny man Jeff Portnoy and Robert Downey Jr. pulls a rabbit out of his hat and plays the Oscar-winning Aussie actor Kirk Lazarus, a character that undergoes a skin altering surgery so he can play the lead African American in the film. Steve Coogan plays the film’s rookie director, Damien, and he is struggling mightily.
As the crew descends on Vietnam and production begins to wane (an obvious throwback to the tormented days spent making Apocalypse Now) Damien takes his cast into the middle of the jungle and sets them loose with the only objective of acting out the scenes in the wild as hidden cameras in the trees will catch it all on film. Little do they know, a major heroine operation is run out of this jungle and the actors soon find themselves in a real war zone as the locals believe they are DEA come to shut down their operation.
The film itself is filled with so much talent I can’t mention them all. Outside of the lead cast there is also Jay Baruchel (Million Dollar Baby, Knocked Up) who also turns in a great performance as does Brandon T. Jackson as rapper turned actor Alpa Chino who has a product placement you are sure to enjoy. One of the best parts of the film though is the Lazarus plotline as it satirizes the ego of method actors and the disintegrating amount of roles for African Americans. It sets out to show that even when a roll is written for a black man it’s ultimately stolen by the white man. It’s classic stuff as there is an underlying truth to every layer of this film.
As entertaining as it is to watch Stiller as Tugg Speedman action star, Black as something of an Eddie Murphy clone and Downey as… well, I guess I could only say Russell Crowe, the real gold star for this film belongs to Tom Cruise. Yup, Tom Cruise is in this movie and he dominates every single scene he is in and his presence is felt even when he isn’t on screen. Playing a crazed studio exec, Cruise’s foul-mouthed antics are reason enough to watch this film many, many times and that is before you even try and figure out the multiple layers this film offers in terms of examining the stupidity in Hollywood. I am sure a lot of it sailed over my head and will only to be caught on a second viewing, which I am sure to attend.
Tropic Thunder never takes itself too seriously and it walks the tight rope between serious and insanity very well, allowing its actors to expand and grow their characters while never taking them over the top, which could have easily happened. Stiller shows an incredible ability to manage a highly complex project, which mirrors many big-budget dramas in terms of complexity, but it pieces it all together in such a way you sometimes can forget you are watching a comedy. This isn’t to say it is absolute perfection, considering there are moments when it tends to drag, but in a day and age where comedy has become about nothing more than dick and fart jokes it is nice to see someone actually trying to push the genre to another level. Hopefully a level where Judd Apatow and crew give up after making what boils down to being the same movie time after time.
B+
