Tropic Thunder
Plot:
Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.
From the IMDB Profile
Notable:
The movie has drawn complaints from people affiliated with mental disability groups. But they seemed to have missed the point that it wasn’t mocking mental handicaps, but it was mocking the idea that actors portray these people to win career accolades.
Quote:
Man, I don’t drop character ’till I done the DVD commentary.
Rating: R for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material
Tropic Thunder
First, I loved the way the characters were introduced. It started off with mini-trailers for films the characters had starred in. At first it wasn’t even completely clear that the movie had started, we were just treated to a commercial for junk food, Booty Sweat and Bust-A-Nut. Everyone in the theatre started buzzing, “Was that real? Can they say that in an ad?” Then the trailer introductions began. Very creative.
Second, this was a lot deeper than I expected. I anticipated some slapstick, low-brow humor… and while there was definitely a lot of low-brow joking happening on-screen, this was all done at the expense of the genre and much of the Hollywood industry.
Third, Jack Black wasn’t utilized as much as the trailers made it seem like he was. Ben Stiller turned out a funny performance which was refreshing after I hated ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ so much. And Robert Downey, Jr. is easily on his way to becoming my favorite new (old) actor. And the cameos… I’m not even sure I should mention them just because I received so much pleasure from the surprise of seeing them.
If I had paid the full $10+ that would have been required to see this in Vegas, I would have been a little irked. But seeing it in a smaller town at a cheaper price, it was totally worth it.
My rating: stars
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Hmm, your review may have just convinced me to see this at a matinee price. :-) I was on the fence.