Review of Tropic Thunder (2008) by Liam C — 29 Jun 2014

Tropic Thunder really is a surprising treat. It's a satire that really, really works and it's probably the most outward silly film that Ben Stiller has directed. Right from the word go this film is an absolute laugh riot and what makes it so hilarious is the amazing ensemble cast where everyone just unloads and totally commits to their roles and not to discredit anyone because everyone is amazing but Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise are the standouts.

I could write an exceedingly long review about how everything in this film is absolutely perfect but I don't want to waste anyone's time here, so I'll try to keep it brief. As a satire of Hollywood it works perfectly and every joke works and either makes you laugh, or laugh a lot. I'll admit it but there's a fine line between satire and offensive humor, not like I care personally because if something is funny, its funny but because of how self parody everything is and how everything's performed with such a funny tone, for me anyway, it's hard not to just give in. I'm sure there are the people out there who take everything uber seriously, and there are, that can't see the funny side to anything and that's their problem. Yknow, everything's offensive to somebody and if you're too shortsighted to see what the film is going for, then you already condemned this as the worst thing ever. But as a person who likes to laugh and enjoys watching silly satire films like Airplane!, this film was right up my alley. Was it overhyped? Maybe. But it's one of the only satire films in recent memory that's actually good, so people freaked out and reacted accordingly, 'OMG ITS ACTUALLY GOOD'.

Like I said before, what makes it is the amazing ensemble cast. Ben Stiller really did pick the right people for this and even the minor characters are great. Robert Downey Jr. was outstanding here and it's the best I've ever seen him do and like he says 'Im a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude', the film already had a good sense of satire but he really elevates it to something much more as a showcase for how far method actors go, which is funny because he became a method actor in the process, its fantastic! He is totally unrecognizable. I also feel like Tom Cruise's character was sort of a revenge role for Cruise to play, to get back at Hollywood for how he had been shown around that time and because of this, he put in even more effort than he does usually and it really shows by giving us two awesome scenes. Not in a million years would I have guessed Tom Cruise would have said yes to be in this, but hey, it's good to see that everyone doesn't have to take themselves seriously and have a joke every now and then. I thought Steve Coogan was a strange choice for the movie director, not like he was a bad choice because he was very funny, but it just shows how diverse and off the wall this cast is.

I can't imagine how off the rails this could have gone, I just imagine Stiller having to do a lot of work to control everything, not to say he's a bad director but out of all the movies he has directed I think this is his most big scale project even bigger than Walter Mitty because for the most part in that, he was the focus so he had less to control and here he keeps a good hand over everything and considering he acts in it too I think he did a good job overall, some people might think his acting in this was a bit 'meh' compared to everyone else but considering how big the scale is, how much fun everyone seemed to be having and being careful about crossing the line, I think he was fine. Jack Black actually made me laugh a lot here and that's surprising as well. Everyone made me laugh, everyone had a good line or two and it was enjoyable to watch. Nick Nolte was great too.

Any criticisms? Well, I wish it was longer, this is fastest time a film sped by in a long time, it was insane! I was having such a good time and I wanted more although I don't want a sequel as I don't think it'd be done right and I think it would ruin the uniqueness of this. I could write lots and lots more but I won't.

With laugh a minute jokes, fantastic acting and good lighthearted approach, Tropic Thunder is a satire of Hollywood that really works. I wanted to see it again right after I finished it and I look forward to revisiting it in the future.