Crass, crude, offensive, politically incorrect- pick any negative adjective you like and it could probably be applied to Ben Stiller’s action-comedy Tropic Thunder. Despite any complaints people may have about the content of this film, Stiller manages to balance the potentially offensive with the undeniably amusing.A Vietnam War veteran’s book is being turned into a major Hollywood film. The dysfunctional cast includes Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller)- a former action star trying to resurrect his dying career; Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.)- an Australian method actor looking to snag his sixth Oscar by undergoing a pigment alteration treatment in order to play a tragic black soldier; Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson)- a popular rapper looking to segue into screen stardom; Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black)- a drug-abusing comedian looking to break his type casting; and Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel)- a young actor getting his first big film role. Personalities clash, the first-time director is in over his head, and the production is weeks behind schedule and in danger of going over budget.
Profane studio executive Les Grossman (Tom Cruise) orders the director to pull it together or his career will be finished before it even starts. Taking the grizzly Nam vet’s advice, the director rigs hidden cameras in a remote Southeast Asian jungle rigged with explosives for special effects. They then drop the actors in the middle of the jungle with a map that will lead them to a helicopter and a list of scenes to act out along the way. Armed with prop rifles that only shoot blanks, the squabbling actors find themselves in real war-like conditions when they discover they’ve been dropped into the middle of the Golden Triangle- a hotbed of heroin production and dangerous drug lords.
The film starts out with fake previews and commercials for the various cast members. Alpa Chino has an ad for his brand of energy drink, Speedman gets a preview for his latest installment to an action franchise, Portnoy has a preview for a flatulence-happy family akin to The Klumps, and Lazarus gets a plug for his latest Oscar-bait film about a pair of 18th Century gay monks. While seemingly random at first, they set the tone for the kinds of characters were going to be watching for the next 100 minutes. In hindsight, I must admit that the amount of absurdity packed into these shorts is more consistently funny than the rest of the film.
Don’t get me wrong- the rest of the film is funny but it’s not continuously funny. All of the actors play their parts well and it’s beyond fun watching the unabashed skewering of the major types of actor egos and attitudes. Stiller and company go for broke and hold absolutely nothing back in their relentless actor-bashing. This leads to several politically incorrect discussions that ruffled special interest feathers, while also making some very interesting observations about the industry.
Case in point- Lazarus admonishes Speedman for going “full retard” with a serious role he took to gain credibility as a dramatic actor. He dispenses a list of actors who went ‘part-retard’ and won awards but those who go ‘full retard’ never do. Offensive? Possibly, but the conversation is about belittling actors, not belittling those with disabilities. Plus, it’s an R-rated comedy for crying out loud!
The other controversial element is Robert Downey, Jr. playing in blackface. Technically though, Downey is playing an actor who is playing in blackface. That doesn’t make it any less shocking but it opens the door for some hilarious back and forth between Lazarus and Chino- the real black actor. You can’t help but admire Downey’s devotion to such an absurd concept. He shows no sign of hesitation and delivers every line with the utmost seriousness. The part of Lazarus could have sunk this film had it been put in hands less capable than Downey’s. He and Tom Cruise really steal the show.
Tropic Thunder is laced with references to war movies and action flicks but this isn’t Hot Shots redux. Instead of merely referencing scenes from popular genre films, Stiller takes time to build a satire of those moments. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a few throw-away jokes and deliberately-placed clichés though. Sadly, it’s this same lampooning of war movies where the film gets stale. Predictably, the actors have to band together and learn to function as a unit, just like real soldiers would. It’s a necessary component of the story because it helps the actors break down some of their barriers and pretensions but it also slows down the humor.
While Tropic Thunder is a pretty good film, it’s built the wrong way. As the film progresses, the characters get more serious and bond, which causes the film to decrease in humor. You want a film to be consistently funny the whole way through, if not get funnier towards the end. While it may achieve the right kind of action movie climax, it fails to reach a comedy climax. There are plenty of moments that will leave you in stitches but most of them come before the half-way point. It’s worth seeing, if you can stomach a mountain of obscenities and political incorrectness, but it doesn’t quite live up to the hype.
RATING: 3 out of 5
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