I finally saw Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller’s new comedy about the making of a Vietnam movie, and I found it hilarious. The star-studded cast (in addition to Stiller, there’s Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black, Nick Nolte, and an amazing cameo by Tom Cruise) is great, and managed to keep me laughing for almost the entirety of the movie. The movie begins with trailers for the products and movies of the fictional actors, setting the stage for their personalities on the set of Tropic Thunder. As the production of the movie slides further and further downhill, the veteran who wrote the book the action movie is based on (played by Nolte) suggests dropping the actors into a forest rigged with explosives and hidden cameras, to capture real fear and make the movie “the best war movie ever”.
It all deteriorates from there, as the director is almost immediately accidentally blown up, and the token Asian drug ring shows up, mistaking the actors for American soldiers (who in turn mistake them for actors, playing out parts in the script). All hell breaks loose as the actors slowly begin to understand that they are no longer filming a movie, but fighting for their lives and those of their friends and comrades.
This makes the movie sound very serious, which it isn’t at all. It’s completely silly, from the drug ring being run by a 12-year old who’s only ever seen one movie (Simple Jack, one of Stiller’s character’s movies, in which he portrays a lovable mentally disabled boy named Jack), to the impressive stream of obscenity issued by the producer of the movie (Cruise), to Downey Jr.’s character undergoing major surgery to turn himself into a black man, and subsequently falling completely into the role, convincing himself he really is the character he’s supposed to be portraying.
The movie is hilarious, but not for the faint of heart. There are many shots, particularly near the beginning, of people’s guts spilling out of them, and more than one person explodes in the course of the movie. A lot of the jokes could very easily offend people (and they have), but I don’t think that there are any jokes bad enough to merit skipping the movie entirely. Honestly, I would say the opposite: Tropic Thunder is a must-see, possibly one of the funniest movies of the year.