"Tropic Thunder" - spoiler movie review

From the first time I saw the trailer for "Tropic Thunder", I was hooked. The film in total didn't grab me completely - it was Robert Downey, Jr., "the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude". He was the hook that reeled me in. Wait, does that metaphor work? Well, if not, you still get my drift. If not for that character, and if not for Robert Downey, Jr. playing that character, I don't think I would have been interested in seeing the movie. And I would have missed out on the frickin' funniest movie I've seen in a long time. It was irreverent and offensive - and it left me, the husband, the friends we were with, the other people in the theatre, all roaring and applauding with laughter throughout much of the film. This is definitely not a movie for the faint of heart, the easily offended or the prudish, and PLEASE LEAVE YOUR KIDS AT HOME. This is so much incredibly an adult film.

The film is the story of the making of a film about a group of soldiers in the Vietnam War. Thrown together are fading-action-hero-megastar Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), drug-addicted fart-comedy star Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) and uber-acclaimed multiple-Oscar-award-winner Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.) who has taken method acting to the utmost level by having undergone a highly controversial pigmentation surgery so that the Australian actor can play the squad's black leader. The squad has another black member, mega-millionaire energy-drink-hawking rapper-turned-actor Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), who takes some issue with Lazarus' presence. Shooting goes horribly wrong, falling behind by a month only five days into production, plagued with problems from the prima donna cast as well as the ineffective director, Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan). When the foul-mouthed studio head threatens to take Cockburn off the film, Cockburn gets advice from the Vet upon whose book the film is based - Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte) - to make it real: take the actors into the jungles of Vietnam, not the cushy parts where they're filming, and make them survive for real. Cockburn takes up the idea, but one after another, things turn out to be not what they appear, and the actors are forced to step into their roles much more than they ever intended.

Let me tell you how much that synopsis tells you nothing about what to expect from the film. What you should expect from the entire film is what the first 10 minutes of the film sets you up for.

After the advertising and trailers are over, another ad comes on screen, but it's unlike anything you've ever seen. It's an ad for Booty Sweat, an energy drink created by Alpa Chino - you have *got* to read the biography on his site. Following that are "trailers" for three other films - Tugg Speedman's "Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown" (here's the official site of that movie itself), Jeff Portnoy's "Fatties: Fart 2" (here's the official site of that movie itself), and Kirk Lazarus' "Satan's Alley" (here's the official site of that movie itself).

The action movie trailer was preceded by Universal Pictures' logo, the comedy movie trailer was preceded by New Line's logo, and the art house movie trailer was preceded by Fox Searchlight's logo. The tie-in to the studios was perfect given the genre of each film, and it's great that the three studios agreed to let their logos be used. I am particularly happy about Searchlight's inclusion since I've loved a number of their films, and the film depicted in the trailer is definitely right up their alley. I also thought it was great that near the end of the film, during the Oscar awards, you can tell that Tobey Maguire was a nominee for the last film. I got so distracted after seeing and recognizing his picture in the brown hood that I didn't really pay attention to who the other two nominees (other than Tugg Speedman and Jon Voight) were. If you go to the movie links I included above, you may notice that Dreamworks/Paramount is listed as the studio for each of the films, not the ones used in the movie itself. I suspect that while the studios were ok with their names being used in the movie itself, where people would know those were not real movies, they might not have given permission for their studio names to be attached out of context of the film. Each website has a synopsis for each movie as well as links to downloads. The trailer links are empty - not sure if they'll actually put the trailers up later.

I don't even know really what to say about the film, because mostly, I'd just want to recount all the funny parts. That would take forever. And it would be boring, for those who've seen the movie and those who haven't. The film has such a mix of moments, some that are completely outrageous, some that are admittedly a little slow (but then, when you've got so much going on otherwise, it's probably inevitable that you'll have slow parts too), great action sequences, amazing pyro (while the $4 million napalm explosion that wasn't actually caught on film was fairly spectacular, my favorite was the bridge that was blown up towards the end as Speedman was running across it), and then in the middle of all that craziness, there's that rivetting scene when the studio head details how they're just going to let Speedman die, and they'll be remorseful in the press, and they'll wait a respectable amount of time before filing the insurance claim, because in the end, the fading star is really worth more dead than alive at that point, and all Speedman's agent has to do is keep quiet, and he'll be rewarded with a spiffy plane and lots of money. And it wouldn't surprise me a bit if some semblance of that actual conversation has happened in real life somewhere.

This film is also a treasure trove for film buffs, spoofing war movies, stereotypes, conventions of plot and a whole lot more. The highlight for me was Lazarus' dissertation to Speedman about the history of portrayals in films of retarded people, from Peter Sellers in "Being There", to Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man", to Tom Hanks in "Forrest Gump", to Sean Penn in "I Am Sam". Having actually seen all of those movies, it was a dead-on observation.

The acting performances - ensemble at its finest.

I am not a particular fan of Ben Stiller - I can generally pretty much take him or leave him, but I have liked the few of the things he's done that I've actually seen. I liked "The Royal Tenenbaums", and I loved "Dodgeball". I meant to see "Night at the Museum" but haven't gotten around to it yet. I don't think he has any particular stand-out performances in this film, though he is very good throughout, and I think his biggest contributions to the film aren't really as an actor, but rather, as the film's director, co-writer and as a producer as well.

Jack Black is definitely not someone whose films I would normally be seeing. In fact, this is the first film I've seen of his where he's a major character. His credits indicate that he's been in some films that I've seen, but I have no recollection of him in them. He pretty much did in this film what I expect he normally does in his films (based on the trailers of them that I've seen), but he was very funny in this film, particularly in the scene where he's tied to the tree, and he makes Alpa Chino an offer if Chino will untie him. Just too frickin' funny. I credit the writers with the lines themselves, but Black did have a great delivery.

And then there's the man, Robert Downey, Jr. himself, the actor who I apparently am watching in a film every few months this year. My only criticism, if you want to call it that, is that I had a really hard time understanding him some of the time because of how thick he was laying on the accent and almost mumbling his lines at times, though I figure that was completely intentional. Under the makeup and mannerisms and prosthetics, he about disappeared under that character. He was actually hard to recognize as the black soldier. However, the instant he pulled off the wig (and presumably the prosthetic) - there he was. He really was just a joy to watch in this film, especially his interactions with the other characters. I will save my additional gushing over him in general for another time.

Brandon T. Jackson is not a name I'm familiar with, but he was terrific in this film. He has an especially good monologue in a diatribe against Lazarus' portrayal of a black man. He was also hysterical in the scene when he reveals his secret longing for "Lance".

Steve Coogan wasn't in this movie nearly as much as I thought he'd be. It was nice that the trailer didn't tell you that he would be blown to smithereens early into the film. I did enjoy seeing him, though my anticipation of seeing the film "Hamlet 2", which Coogan stars in, made me laugh a bit more in this film. When they've first been stranded in the jungle, Cockburn likens himself to Jesus Christ since he has the only walkie talkie that will call the helicopter ("God") to come pick them up. Well, in "Hamlet 2", Coogan's character writes a musical that includes the song "Rock Me Sexy Jesus".

Nick Nolte is not someone I've seen much of lately. The thing I remember him most in is a movie called "The Deep", which I loved. However, in recent years, he's probably better known for his real-life antics, including his infamous mug shot when he was arrested. This film plays off that image to a great extent, with Nolte playing the grizzled Vet, but it's an absolute riot when it's revealed that he made up the whole story.

Matthew McConaughey does a terrific job in the role of Rick Peck, Speedman's agent and long-time friend, who is so obsessed with the fact that the contractually-guaranteed TiVo has not in fact been provided to Speedman in the middle of the jungles of Vietnam. I still want to know how Peck got out of the jungle, though, after his TiVo saved the day.

Danny McBride is awesome as Cody, the pyro. Hey, how could I not like him?

Bill Hader was very funny as a studio executive. I enjoyed Hader's work in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" too.

And then we get to the biggest secret in the film, a secret that was almost spoiled for me, but which played perfectly in the film. About a week prior, I had read the headline of some story about Tom Cruise being in "Tropic Thunder". I'd not heard that previously, so I figured he was doing some kind of cameo, maybe even as himself since it was a movie about making a movie. I was disappointed that I'd heard about his appearance, but I made it a point of not reading the stories themselves so I wouldn't find out anything more. I was so not expecting anything that when foul-mouthed, every-other-word-is-a-swear-word-and-not-just-the-f-one studio head Les Grossman showed up on screen (I think he showed up a bit earlier in some magazine covers or on the Access Hollywood story, but those went by pretty quickly), it took me a few minutes to realize that *THAT* was Tom Cruise. OH. MY. HECK. I've liked his work on-and-off, but his antics of the past couple years since his relationship with Katie Holmes started have turned him pretty much into a joke and not someone to be taken seriously, certainly not as an actor anymore. Well, this was THE PERFECT role for him to make a statement, and it's a fairly-colorful-words-laden statement as well. Tom Cruise, with a balding wig and fat suit and appliances that make him old and wrinkled beyond his years, not to mention his amazingly inventive ways of degrading people verbally, has a tour-de-force performance in this film. Yes, I know, that's a cliche, but in this case, it's a cliche that also happens to be true. Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller are reportedly friends, and Stiller approached Cruise about doing this role. As far as I'm concerned, Cruise owes Stiller *for life*, he needs to be at Stiller's beck and call, no matter what he wants because Stiller is Cruise's saviour by offering him this role. Cruise easily moves from the profanity-laden diatribes to the scene I mentioned above where he coldly and calculatingly plans how his studio will profit from Speedman's death. And then, there's the dancing. Oh my goodness, the dancing. The scene where he's dancing with the studio exec and Peck in the room is one thing, but his dance that covers the entire closing credits sequence is just indescribably amazing. Yes, all the lines and the dance itself would be scripted and choreographed. But it's in the execution, the movements, the facial expressions (or lack thereof) that make the dances, which is probably funnier for those who might remember Cruise's dance in his underwear from "Risky Business". No, I don't normally gush over Tom Cruise. As a matter of fact, as much as I've liked him in films, I don't think I've *ever* gushed over Tom Cruise. But for this film? I'm gushing! I think he might be the best bet at an Oscar nomination for this film, Best Supporting Actor. And the nomination (and even win) would be well deserved.

The end credits include mention of Jon Voight, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Bateman, Lance Bass and Alicia Silverstone. I recognized Jon Voight sitting in front of Speedman as a fellow nominee, and Jennifer Love Hewitt was sitting next to the other young member of the squad who apparently has a thing for her. I didn't recognize Lance Bass at first since I don't know him too well, but when Chino turned to him, it occurred to me that he was the "Lance" that Chino had previously mentioned, and then I kind of realized that I sort of recognized him, and apparently, Lance Bass is the only gay "Lance" that I know of, so that's how I figured it out. I don't recall seeing Jason Bateman or Alicia Silverstone, but I'm assuming they're in the crowd - maybe Alicia was who was on the other side of Chino that I didn't pay any attention to? I did notice that Tobey Maguire was not formally credited in the end titles for his appearance in the movie trailer, but since he was credited in the trailer himself, I guess there was no need for the repetition.


Just a few things to mention randomly:

I laughed hard at the sequence with the countdown of the number of soldiers who survived the battle, to the number of books that were written, to the number of books that were published, to the number that were offered a movie deal.

During several parts with lots of gore (the guy in the beginning getting shot in the head which then spurts blood endlessly, to the guy being gutted and his insides all falling out and looking like sausage links, to Speedman's hands having been blown off and all that are left are bloody streamers, to the director's severed head after he's blown to pieces), I initially didn't look because I'm into gore, but once each scene got completely ridiculous, then I did look because then, it was just funny. Except for the severed head part. When Speedman was poking at it and licking it, I still couldn't look.

I laughed at the naming of Speedman's "adopted" son as Half-Squat - it made me think of Short Round. He was the cutest thing, and wasn't it awesome that he gave Speedman a twig Oscar? When Speedman came running back over the bridge with Half-Squat on his shoulder, I thought he was just taking him with him, so I completely didn't understand when Speedman flung him over the side of the bridge. A friend later told me that Half-Squat was stabbing Speedman with the twig Oscar. I did think it was funny that they showed that Half-Squat was still ok, and then he sat down and had the cutest pout ever.

Ben Stiller is apparently a fan of "Star Trek", but out of all the classic Trek episodes at his disposal (the film was released by Dreamworks/Paramount after all), he had to pick the one with the Gorn?

I laughed that "Sometimes When We Touch" by Dan Hill was Peck's ringtone for when Speedman called. I *love* that song!

At one point, Chino refers to Lazarus as "Benson". Do people even still know who Benson is anymore?

I loved that the end of the fight sequence was a duplicate of the earlier fake fight sequence, but with twists. "I'm cold," says Freedman. "That's because your feet are in a puddle of water," says Lazarus. And when Lazarus had jumped off the copter yelling "cover me", you could see the physical reaction of the people behind him before you head the line of "cover him with what?" (or whatever the line was). It was just too funny.

OK, so why is a giant panda wandering around Vietnam or Laos or wherever the heck they ended up?

And then we get to "Simple Jack". Yes, there's a group protesting the use of "retard" or some variation thereof in the film. Frankly, I'm figuring if they were going to be offended, there's a whole lot more for them to be offended about than just the use of that word. The retarded title character of the film gets a lot of play in the movie. But hey, you know what? Don't see the movie. I heard some quote about how children shouldn't be taught that sort of thing. Ummm, ok, well, children shouldn't be seeing this movie, so that shouldn't be an issue. And really, there are all kinds of things and people being made fun of in this film. Do they know that Robert Downey, Jr. plays an Australian pretending to be a black guy pretending to be Chinese? I mean, how offensive is that? As a matter of fact, I am so incredibly offended that I'm going to have to see this movie again to keep my offendedness quotient up.


Here's the official website for the movie which has a lot of fun things to play with.