Tropic Thunder

Reviewed by:
Eric Alt

Directed by: Ben Stiller

The Skinny: A group of ego-tastic Hollywood douche bags—the aging action hero (Ben Stiller), the coked-up comedian (Jack Black), the ultra–Method actor (Robert Downey Jr.), the rapper-turned-actor (Brandon T. Jackson), and the earnest newbie (Jay Baruchel)—find themselves inadvertently caught in a real war zone while filming a war movie.

The Good: Stiller is at his best when he has a specific target in mind, and he lets go full blast on Hollywood. From the fake movie trailers (brilliant way to introduce each character, by the way) to the way the movie captures the so-far-up-their-own-assness of everyone in the film business, Tropic is not only hilarious, but it has some bite, too.

The Bad: A lot of the good jokes are spoiled by the trailers. If you haven't watched them, don't. And some of the characters get a bit shafted at the end (the "gay" revelation is not only a cliché, but a cliché you can see coming five miles out).

Never Thought We'd Say It: But Tom Cruise is not only funny as a bloated studio head, he may have one of our favorite lines of the summer: "You take a step back—and fuck your own face!"

Theater, DVD, or TNT in Five Years? Go see it. We're in the midst of a pretty good comedy winning streak here, so enjoy it. And the fact that Downey Jr. can bookend the summer with this and Iron Man is just amazing.

Share