Written by Kenny Fischer

Tropic Thunder is a very funny movie but I wish I didn't see the redband trailer or read any reviews.  I realize it's odd to discourage someone from reading Tropic Thunder reviews a few lines into a Tropic Thunder review...but I'm just looking out for you, dude.  At least half of the jokes were spoiled for me.  I still had a great time, but you know how it is.  Avoid this shit like the plague.  But if you're still around, I have a few thoughts.

Tropic Thunder has been bouncing around in Ben Stiller's head since the '80s.  His friends all went off and got bit parts in war movies.  They'd complain of the rigors of "movie boot camp" and the location shoot.  As you probably guessed, he found this absurd.  That reaction is the jumping off point for everything in the movie.  Tropic Thunder is the comedic tale of a war movie gone horribly, horribly, horribly wrong.  Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and Jack Black play the lead actors in the film within the film. 

Stiller is a world famous action star that tried to branch out with a "retard film" that almost destroyed his career.  Robert Downey Jr. plays a riff on Daniel Day Lewis, an Australian actor that goes to extreme lengths to get an authentic performance.  In this case, in order to play an African-American character he actually undergoes a controversial surgery to change his physical appearance.  I could watch a whole movie about that.  And Jack Black plays a riff on Eddie Murphy, multiple character fat suit movies and all, only with an added quirk, an extreme drug problem.

The film goes way over budget and the director feels the actors are too pampered to give effective performances.  He decides to take them out into "the shit" and film it guerrilla style in the jungle, with digital cameras hidden everywhere.  Everything goes horribly wrong and that's where the movie takes off.  The actors don't realize they're not filming anymore and everything becomes a hard R rated version of Three Amigos.

Here's the thing.  It's insane that the movie works at all.  If it wasn't funny it would be one of the all time disasters.  I'd say like Ishtar, but Ishtar is fucking awesome.  Most people who use that film as the butt of a joke haven't even seen it.  Telling the truth is a dangerous business, indeed.  Tropic Thunder is probably the most self-indulgent movie ever made, but it's so goddamn funny that it doesn't matter.  Everyone's vanished up their own ass but somehow they pull it off. 

Movies about movies never work.  The jokes are always so inside that only a few people in Hollywood are going to get them anyway.  You could almost say the same about this movie, but the performances are great, hysterical, and ballsy as fuck.  Everyone is funny.  Stiller.  Black.  Coogan.  Nolte.  Hader.  But a few of the guys really stand out.  I was starting to think that Danny McBride was always going to be the funniest part in all of his movies.  That's a safe assumption.  But Downey Jr. kills everyone in this movie.  His line delivery is great, but the blank and cocky expression that follows all the jokes is gold. 

It's really an iconic comedic performance.  For the genre, and this will seem like an exaggeration, it's about as good as Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood or Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.  But still, he's not the funniest person in the movie.  If you've gotten this far into the review you're probably the kind of person that's spoiled the entire movie and know where I'm going with this, but Tom Cruise is unbelievable in this.  Who knew?  He has amazing comic timing and his intensity works wonders in this context.  You just have to see it for yourself.  There's a "negotiation scene" in the middle of the movie that made me laugh more than anything I've seen in years.

And I really have to say, and this is definitely a huge spoiler, Ben Stiller must really have a good relationship with his agent.  Matthew McConaughey's character and his arc actually gives the movie a lot of heart.  It's a warm and unorthodox take on the profession and this is the most likable McConaughey has been in his entire career. 

What else can I say about the movie?  It's a possible comedy classic, and if it wasn't for Pineapple Express, it would easily be the funniest movie of the year.  Ben Stiller should direct all of his movies.  This is his best film since Zoolander and he really knows his shit.  He can direct circles around Shawn Levy or any of the big hack comedy guys.  I loved Dodgeball and Meet the Parents, but I'd lose all of them if we got a "Ben Stiller film" every few years.  Go see it.

And make sure you show up on time.  There are some great trailers.  That's all I'll say about that.