Tropic Thunder (2008)
Tropic Thunder (2008)
Tropic Thunder (2008) Reviews
You’ll laugh but this movie isn’t for the easily offended. Heck, even a few hard-to-offend viewers will cringe, too. A comedy hasn’t had this much in-your-face political incorrectness since Blazing Saddles.
You’ll be worn out by the end of this two-hour movie but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The hardest laughs come all too quickly before the film settles down to a slower pace.
The story follows a group of high-maintenance actors on the set of a Vietnam war movie that is spinning out of control and likely to become the all-time box office flop, pushing aside Cutthroat Island, The Adventures of Pluto Nash and Basic Instinct 2.
Ben Stiller has the most screen time but Robert Downey Jr. steals the scenes as an Australian method actor who manages to eclipse Robert De Niro’s famed transformation in Raging Bull.
Jack Black (in a nod to Eddie Murphy’s The Nutty Professor), Brandon T. Jackson, Jay Baruchel round out the rest of the main acting troupe. In smaller roles, Nick Nolte portrays the author of the book, Tropic Thunder, which “got” the movie deal (there’s an in-joke). Matthew McConaughey appears as Stiller’s TiVo-crazed agent and Tom Cruise appears nearly unrecognizable in creepy make-up as the film’s producer. Not a single actor displays anything approaching subtlety or sanity.
One final warning: skip the DVD extras at your own risk. The viral video for MTV is hilarious.
There’s no doubt that Tropic Thunder is one of the funniest movies of the year- if not THE funniest movie of the year. I remember seeing in the theater and laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. I was excited when I found out that there was an unrated DC coming out… 2 discs, and 15 more minutes more footage.
However, as much as I gotta say the movie rocks, I have to say: BUY THE THEATRICAL CUT INSTEAD. The unrated version slows the movie down a bit, and most of the added stuff doesn’t seem to fit in. They changed some funny lines, and even took some out as well. In fact some of the added stuff makes the movie feel a lot longer than it really is, and after awhile the movie seems repetitive, which is one of the few things that killed the movie for me.
So if you’re planning on buying the DVD, get the single disc rated version instead… this movie is definitely one of the funniest I’ve seen, and I definitely look forward to owning it, but really, just get the theatrical. It’s MUCH better.
I never understood why Downey, Jr. received job after job after being released from prison. I knew he was a good actor, but his portrayal of Iron Man and his performance in this movie was just phenomenal (I never saw the Charlie Chaplin movie). I know this movie offended some, but my husband and I are Black and we missed some of the dialogue in this movie from laughing so hard. We were picking out family members who really talk like that! This movie is hilarious. It’s unfortunate that Oscars aren’t considered for these types of movies/performances. All of the characters in this movie contributed to it’s pleasing experience, however, RDJ stole EVERY SCENE he was apart of. Great Job, RDJ!!! I’m now one of your biggest fans!!!
Leave a Reply