Movie Review – Tropic Thunder

Caught the new Ben Stiller movie Tropic Thunder over the weekend. I had read a review in Rolling Stone and it sounded like it would be hilarious. And it was.

In a nutshell, the movie is about a film company trying to make a Rambo-style war movie but the director runs into issues with the actors and their egos. So the decision is made to plop the actors down into the middle of the jungle, where the movie would be filmed more “Blair Witch” style but it goes horribly wrong immediately, and the actors (some of who believe they are still acting) quickly have to assimilate to a real-life wartime situation with a drug cartel.

The cast is all-star. Stiller, Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, Robert Downey Jr, Tom Cruise and Nick Nolte. But hands down the movie was stolen by Robert Downey Jr., who plays an Australian Oscar-winning actor who is playing Sgt. Lincoln Osiris, an African American. To get into the part, Downey’s character has dyed his skin dark and refuses to break character from Osiris ever, even when it is obvious they are not acting for the movie anymore.

This character is one of the funniest I have seen in a long time. I was laughing just looking at Downey. Some of his facial expressions speak pages, and his lines will be quoted a la Caddyshack for years to come.

I do have to say that the first few minutes contain some pretty graphic mock violence that I thought was a little unnecessary. After that, though, the movie is one big laugh. And Tom Cruise comes in with a career changing hilarious/weird cameo that is so over the top that you'll laugh even if you hate Tom Cruise.

Also notable is the cinematography and special effects, which are of the quality of a big budget war movie and made the movie a pleasure to watch in addition to laugh at.

Here is a mashup of the trailer that shows some good Robert Downey Jr. stuff. It does not do the movie justice, though - go see it.