A wounded Ben Stiller and a newly African-American Robert Downey Jr. gaze deeply into each other’s souls in Tropic Thunder
With the world of blockbuster Hollywood comedies increasingly being dominated by Judd Appatow and his loveable crew of man-children, there’s something a little nostalgic about seeing a big summer comedy co-written, directed and starring Ben Stiller. Indeed, much of Stiller’s latest project, Tropic Thunder, hearkens back to those halcyon days around the turn of the millennium when gas cost less than a dollar a litre, Eminem was relevant and comedies were about grown men acting like complete idiots instead of overgrown teenagers. Unsurprisingly, like Zoolander, There’s Something About Mary and Meet the Parents before it, Tropic Thunder is a bit dicey and pretty stupid but ultimately funny and entertaining.
The movie follows the mishaps of a film crew in Vietnam trying to bring to life the supposedly true story of a heroic American rescue mission, as written by the supposed trauma victim Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte). Tired of struggling with prima donna actors, the movie-within-the-movie’s director (Steve Coogan) decides to shoot the film guerrilla-style by abandoning his cast in the Vietnamese jungle with a map and a scene index in hopes of scaring out some convincing performances. Things, of course, go horribly awry immediately, leaving the actors in the same situation as their characters; only some of them don’t know it’s real.
Though the story quickly descends into the absurd, Tropic Thunder does produce a lot of laughs, mainly due the chemistry between the cast and the overall quality of their performances. Most notable is Robert Downey Jr., who plays Kirk Lazarus, a multi-award-winning Australian actor renowned for how deeply he retreats into his roles. Here Lazarus has his skin dyed to adopt a ridiculously over the top African American stereotype that Downey Jr. plays with scene-stealing glee throughout.
Downey’s performance alone is enough to recommend the film, but Stiller also puts in a strong showing as (in typical Stiller fashion) the dumbest character in the movie, Tugg Speedman, a washed-up action star desperate to rekindle his fame. While opposites in terms of acting prestige and self-confidence, Lazarus and Speedman’s respective issues with identity are the focus of Tropic Thunder. Well, the parts that aren’t concerned with lampooning classic war movies, letting Jack Black mug for attention as a cocaine-addicted Myke Myers-Eddie Murphy hybrid, extolling the necessity of TiVo and watching Tom Cruise dance to Ludacris, at least.
Tropic Thunder does have its share flaws. Some gags are a little too easy, and unlike Downey and Stiller, Black and a few others quite make their overblown characters work. The plot and pacing are occasionally off base, and a far too literal deus ex machina saves the day. Still, the funny wins out in the end. Like the comedies of yesteryear when Blink 182 ruled the charts and cell phones hadn’t yet mated with cameras, Tropic Thunder doesn’t merit much thought, but the laughs are there, and that’s all that really matters.
