Tropic Thunder is a daring movie. And being daring is about taking risks. And make no mistake, there are no shortage of risks in this film. Some of them are quite effective -- a brilliant exposition with fake trailers starring each of the main characters; Robert Downey Jr. in black-face; and a bunch of hilarious retard gags.
But some of them are just off-putting -- an unfunny attempt at parodying a bloody war scene; the gory dispatch of a character early in the film; and the introduction of an overly-venomous Hollywood producer. These choices produce several uncomfortable crickets-and-tumbleweed type moments that risk losing the audience altogether. But fortunately, Robert Downey Jr.'s performance saves the day and makes the film at least watchable, if not totally redeemable.
Ben Stiller stars as Tugg Speedman, an actor famous for an endless line of sequels of a popular disaster film (Scorcher!). Speedman, frustrated by his status as a one-trick pony, tried his hand at more serious fare, playing a mentally handicapped character in Simple Jack, (buck-toothed and freckled, with requisite stutter), but it was an utter flop. As explained later in the film, you can't win the Oscar if you go "full-out retard" -- just ask Sean Penn.
Speedman is trying to save his flailing career by playing the central character of Tropic Thunder (the film within the film), an adaptation of a famous Vietnam memoir of the same name, written by a grizzly character played by Nick Nolte. The film is being made by super-scary mega-producer Les Grossman (Tom Cruise, in an utterly painful role) and directed by a novice "limey" (Steve Coogan) who's already "months behind schedule, despite only being five days into production."
Unfortunately, the cast is not working so well together. Speedman is incapable of acting opposite Kirk Lazarus, a five-time Oscar winning Australian method actor (Robert Downey Jr. channeling Russell Crowe) who undergoes a controversial skin-darkening procedure to play a black character in the movie. Not only is he black, but he stays in character all the time (think Daniel Day Lewis), and out-acts Speedman in every scene.
Backing them up are Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), a drug-addicted "fat" actor, Alpa Chino (say it out loud), a rapper-gone-actor played by Brandon Jackson, and Kevin Sandusky, an actor, who, um, I don't really know. . . is bland, played by Jay Baruchel (of Apatow lineage).
Forget about these other guys, though - this is Downey's movie. Downey's Lazarus spouts great acting clichés ("I don't read the script, it reads me"), exhales all manner of black stereotypes, and provides a constant flow of priceless reaction shots. He has all the best lines and simply creates a better character than anyone else.
Anyway, the rattled director, desperate to make the film work, decides to drop the actors off in the middle of the jungle, away from their cellphones and assistants, to make them really experience the terror of war. He equips them with fake guns and tells them they are to act out the entire film while he secretly films them from the forest. Unfortunately, the plan is unexpectedly arrested, unbeknownst to the actors (but beknownst to us, as Mel Brooks would say), and they encounter a bunch of evil, gun-toting drug runners who happen to be strolling around nearby. Of course, the actors think the ambush is scripted, so they play along.
After awhile, it becomes obvious to everyone except Speedman that this is for real. They decide to try to find their way back to the set, but Speedman keeps going, wandering further into the jungle. After a montage or two, Speedman gets captured by said drug-runners, still thinking it's part of the movie, and gets introduced to the guy in charge of the drug operation (It's a little boy. Huh?) . . . and that's where the movie officially jumps the shark . Yada, yada, yada . . . The guys organize a rescue mission . . . yada, yada, yada . . . Danny McBride blows some shit up . . . yada, yada, yada . . . Matthew McConaughey saves the day with a TiVO.
The movie is a smart satire about Hollywood, but it is so self-indulgent that it ceases to be an effective comedy, similar to what happened in For Your Consideration. In other words, the movie forgets that it is there to make us laugh. Part of the problem is that, besides Downey, this movie doesn't really know what to do with its cast. Stiller is hilarious as Simple Jack, but falters in playing a real comic character (Speedman is like an unfunny, actor version of Zoolander). And Jack Black is terrifically misused. He's hilarious in the fake trailer for The Fatties: Fart 2, but his real character is totally unfunny, running around in a withdrawal-induced fervor that's just sad. The worst, though, is Tom Cruise, playing the evil, flamboyant producer of the film. I don't know why Cruise took the part. It's almost like Stiller thought that profanity, piss, and vinegar coming out of Cruise's mouth would be intrinsically funny, without any comedic content. It's not. Moreover, Cruise spends most of his screen time dancing to some hip-hop tune that I've never heard (but I'm sure everyone else knows it). The end result is rather embarrassing. Imagine Dr. Evil's rap from Austin Powers 2 or Napoleon Dynamite's talent show dance . . . as performed by Tom Cruise in a bald cap. It's worse than that.
But it's not so bad that I regret seeing it -- I don't want those two hours back. There are enough laughs to make it worthwhile -- mostly due to Robert Downey Jr., the opening fake trailers, and Simple Jack. So wait for the DVD. That way you can just skip the crickets and tumbleweed.
P.S. If this movie sounds familiar to you, it's because you've seen it before. Entertainment Weekly's cover story this week was on this movie, and their interview with Stiller, Black, and Downey reveals a very interesting bit of information. Apparently, this movie has been in the works for years, but Stiller has had a hard time getting it together. The article states that "Stiller cooked up the premise [for Tropic Thunder] way back in 1987." Oh yeah? And just how did Stiller come up with such a creative, funny premise? My guess:
By watching the Three Amigos in 1986.
Yes, I said it. This film is essentially a darker, less funny version of the Three Amigos, set in Vietnam instead of Mexico. Both films are about actors who mistakenly believe they're acting when they are actually faced with real villains. Both involve a character getting captured and the others going back to the evil gang's camp to save him. Just as Ned Nederlander is saved by the German's idolization of him as a movie gunslinger, Speedman is saved by his captors' fascination with Simple Jack (which happens to be the only entertainment they have in their camp. And in VHS, no less.) And so on. Whether Stiller knows it or not, the premise "came to him" via Steve Martin and Lorne Michaels.
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