Review: ‘Tropic Thunder’ pokes fun at Hollywood

Directed by: Ben Stiller

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Danny McBride, Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise

Rated: R

Ben Stiller says he got the idea for “Tropic Thunder” when he had a bit part in Steven Spielberg’s epic war drama, “Empire of the Sun.”

During the Aug. 13 airing of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Stiller noted the lengths that some actors go to in preparing for their roles.

“They’d go off with some military adviser and have two weeks of camping out, getting shot at, learning how to shoot their guns and pretending to be soldiers,” Stiller said. “There seemed something ironic to me about the idea of actors coming back and talking about that experience and talking about how it changed their lives.”

“Tropic Thunder” is a satire of self-absorbed Hollywood culture. It’s a movie about the making of a movie, and it is a documentary (albeit fictional) of what can go horribly wrong on a movie set.

It’s tough to describe, because the plot is really intricate (but not muddled, it actually makes sense in and of itself) but here goes.

Steve Coogan plays Damien Cockburn, an English film director who finds himself making possibly the worst war movie ever conceived. As noted early on, Cockburn’s film is five days into shooting and already a month behind schedule.

And the director’s trio of celebrity actors is a hard herd to handle.

There’s Tugg Speedman (Stiller), an action star (think Sylvester Stallone) whose glow is fading. In an effort to prove he could really “act,” he last starred as a mentally challenged farmhand in “Simple Jack.” The film was widely panned, ridiculed even.

Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) is the heroin-addicted star of the low-brow comedy franchise “The Fatties.” His last movie featured him in multiple roles (think Eddie Murphy) wherein flatulence was the unifying theme.

Then there’s Kirk Lazarus played by Robert Downey Jr. Downey, despite his well-advertised personal problems, is on the list of the best actors working today. He has never turned in a bad performance and has the gift of being so affable that the audience is always on his side. If you haven’t seen “Iron Man,” do so now. Downey’s character here is a five-time Oscar-winning Australian actor who worships at the altar of the method school of acting. To that end, he has his skin pigmentation altered so he can play a black soldier. He also adopts (and never breaks character) the speech patterns and tone of a “gangsta rapper.” All of this annoys the rap star Alpa Chino (yes, that’s his name), a member of the ensemble cast. Brandon T. Jackson is great in the role of Chino, who is shamelessly self-promoting his clothing line (Alpa Chinos) and an energy drink called “Booty Sweat.”

“Tropic Thunder,” the movie within the real movie, is based on a book by Vietnam War vet John “Four Leaf” Tayback. Nick Nolte, looking worse than he did in his infamous mug shot, plays Tayback as a shell-shocked vet with two prosthetic hands. He has some secrets, though. He is disgusted at the pansy actors’ approach and tells the director that the only way to save the film is to drop the cast and crew in the middle of the jungle and film it cinema verite.

That’s when the trouble, and the plot, starts.

Just as “Pineapple Express” has caused concerned groups to protest, so has “Tropic Thunder.” Much has been made of the use of what politically correct news outlets call “the ‘R’ word.” The word is “retard.” There is a scene where Kirk explains to Tugg the levels of “retard” characters, and the line his “Happy Jack” crossed. In defense of Stiller (as writer and director), it must be noted that the scene is taking shots at vacuous, self-absorbed actors, and not at anyone else. It’s the same way the film treats Kirk’s becoming black for his role.

“Tropic Thunder” is a funny, well-made film and one that had to be hard to make. Reports are that it cost close to $100 million. The action scenes of the film within the film are spectacular, and one assumes they cost a lot. Downey, an American playing an Aussie playing a streetwise African American, deserves an Oscar to go along with the five his character, Kirk Lazurus, has won.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]