Tropic Thunder is an Unbelievable Thrill Ride of Awesome

by Josh Roth @ 9:36 pm August 17th, 2008

Tropic Thunder’s trailers made it out to be a new high in the genre of Hollywood comedies. That’s quite a high standard to appease, but luckily Tropic Thunder comes out smelling like restroom soap. It’s an action comedy war movie directed/written/starring Ben Stiller, and starring Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Danny McBride, Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson; with guest appearances by Steve Coogan, Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey, Bill Hader, AND Tom Cruise. How could you possibly go wrong? Simply put, Tropic Thunder is a comedy masterpiece, filled to the brim with genius parodies and cameos, and enough action to make John McClaine choke. The action is beautifully executed, and the comedy doubly so. This is a real gem of a comedy, and easily the funniest movie of the summer, and more than likely the whole year.

Tropic Thunder is a send-up of war films like Apocalypse Now, and Hollywood in general. Actors are really the focus of the parody. Tugg Speedman (Stiller) is the typical action movie star, making rehashed sequels of long worn out franchises. Kirk Lazarus (Downey Jr) is the method actor, with plenty of Oscars and original performances under his belt. And of course Jeff Portnoy (Black), the comedy star whose only joke is Norbit-esque farting comedy.

The film film really hits the ground sprinting with fake trailers and an ad for Alpa Chino (rapper turned refreshment hocking actor) and his Booty Sweat energy drinks. Genius. The only other film I’ve ever seen to try fake trailers is Grindhouse and Tropic Thunder’s implementation trumps it tenfold. These trailers actually give you some back story to the characters, not that I didn’t love Werewolf Women of the SS and Thanksgiving, but these trailers look like they could have been found on Apple’s trailers page.

Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr. absolutley steal the show. Cruise plays the Jewish producer of Tropic Thunder, Les Grossman, who is indeed gross. He’s a big meaty hairy producer who likes his bling. Decked out in impressive make up, Tom Cruise is almost unrecognizable till he starts talking. His performance is mindblowingly hillarious, I couldn’t belive how good he was. He even managed to outshine the combined performances of Jack Black, Ben Stiller, and Steve Coogan.

But the one performance that outshines Cruise’s Grossman is undoubtably Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus. He absolutley transforms himself into the Australian actor who then transforms himself into an African American sargaent. In his other roles Downey Jr. kind of does play the same character, not that that’s a bad thing, but here he proves his acting and comedy chaps. He shows us he doesn’t always have to be the same snarky and sarcastic bastard he is in Zodiac, Iron Man, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

The direction and writing (although I’m not entirely sure how much is writing and how much is improv) really make the film shine, and we have to thank Ben Stiller for that. He really redeems himself for recent films like Heartbreak Kid with his return to the director’s chair. Before this Stiller directed the smash hit Zoolander, The Cable Guy, and the brilliant TV pilot Heat Vision and Jack. Zoolander blew my mind when I saw it, it rocketed to the top of my favorite comedies, and has stayed there ever since. Cable Guy is flawed but certainly a very funny film, and where do I start about how much I wish Heat Vision and Jack actually got picked up.

Tropic Thunder thankfully lives up to its extremely high expectations. Crammed to the brim with outstanding comedic performances, and war action at a level rarely seen out of war epics, Ben Stiller’s action comedy is one for the books. This film is more quotable than Anchorman and Zoolander combined. Run to the theater and see this before it falls out of theaters. If ever there was a film worthy of a theater viewing with a tub of popcorn and a large Coke it was this.