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It's interesting to note that the three trailers that precede this film are perfect signs of exactly what is to come. Each trailer features one of our three lead characters: Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) and Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.). The first of these three is so-so; some will laugh at it, and some won't, which is precisely what we've come to expect from the comedic material Stiller usually provides, and indeed, that is exactly what he gives us in Tropic Thunder: standard Stiller, nothing groundbreaking in his humorous attempts. Moving onto the second trailer, which I'd like to say as little about it as possible because of how unnecessarily crass it is, but again, it's effective because it foretells exactly what Jack Black is gonna give us in the way of quality comedic material, which is zero. Absolutely nothing but lame, washed-over, disgusting humor (seriously, it's 2008; will filmmakers FINALLY learn that flatulence isn't funny?). Finally, we have our third and last trailer which, again, shows us exactly what we're gonna get from the actor in it, who happens to be what keeps Tropic Thunder from being an entirely bad film: the often great Robert Downey, Jr. is very funny here, even if he doesn't completely save the film.
I've said many times that I realize humor is subjective, but I have to say that it is beyond me why Tropic Thunder has obtained slightly better reviews than the recent Pineapple Express. What's funny is that both films feature moments of over-the-top violence and blood/guts spewing all over the place, all of which is meant to be humorous, but Pineapple Express NEVER came across as lame or crass, whereas Tropic Thunder almost always does. Speaking of Pineapple Express, I must point out that as much as I liked Downey, Jr.'s performance in this film, his work in it is definitely not the best comedic turn of the year so far. That honor still, undoubtedly, belongs to James Franco as the unforgettable riot Saul. In fact, to be fair, Downey, Jr. doesn't even get second place, which I think belongs to Russell Brand in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. But still, he's certainly the best aspect of this film, if not one of the few good ones. When discussing The Dark Knight and Pineapple Express, I mentioned that each of the two films had an actor who was the highlight or the best thing about it (Heath Ledger and James Franco, respectively), but in both cases, that actor was still only ONE of the MANY things that made each film awesome in its own way. Unfortunately, Tropic Thunder doesn't offer much more. The great thing about this, though, is that now after seeing the great work done by Downey, Jr. both here and in Iron Man, I cannot wait to see Joe Wright's The Soloist, and to find out if he's got a legitimate shot at an Oscar nomination this year, which would be awesome (interestingly enough, his character in Tropic Thunder is a five-time Oscar-winning actor).
Those who are offended by the use of the words "retard" and "retarded" in reference to people with mental disabilities MAY want to stay away from the film, which is quite liberal in using this as a punchline on several occasions. I don't know if I'm offended by it or not, but as for the humorous effectiveness of it, it worked sometimes, and other times it didn't. Consider the moment in which it is introduced. Tugg (Stiller) has a conversation with Kirk (Downey, Jr.) about how he prepared himself to play a mentally-challenged character in a film. The conversation starts out with a string of strongly offensive and unfunny lines, yet ends with some witty comments from Kirk on how it seems that in order to win awards, an actor should refrain from playing "a fully retarded part" and should instead play characters that are "partially retarded," and to prove this, he even provides true examples of actual Oscar-winning performances.
There's a pretty long list of jokes that fall flat here, from the moment involving Tugg and the panda bear to the countless lame gags involving Black's character, from his drinking dirty water to his "apparent" obsession with jellybeans to the lame reliance on toilet humor. Not a lot of it works. The work done by the supporting cast also yields mixed results. Jay Baruchel is actually really good, getting to play an even larger comedic part here than he did in Knocked Up. I actually find him to be really cute in an odd sort of way, and I also think the guy has a lot of potential, and that's an opinion I've had ever since Million Dollar Baby, in which he played "Danger" (a character that I suppose this film would refer to as "retarded"). As the fifth member of the quintet, Brandon Jackson is every bit as ineffective as Jack Black, bringing very little humor to the proceedings, mostly staying in the background and not really doing a heck of a lot (that seems like a pretty easy way to make money, if you ask me, heh). Matthew McConaughey does well during most of his screen time, but loses a bit of steam in his last scene (which is perhaps his most important one). Finally, Bill Hader is hilarious yet again (as much as he only gets a few minutes screen time), and equally hilarious work is done by Tom Cruise (perhaps a surprise for some) as the bald-headed asshole Les Grossman, who has what is easily one of the funniest (and ridiculous) scenes in the film, but I won't even describe it, because it's one of those things you just have to see.
That doesn't, however, mean that Tropic Thunder is worth seeing. If anything, it's the kind of movie that you might get more satisfaction either waiting for the DVD or just watching clips on YouTube of the moments that actually ARE worth a laugh or two. To be totally just, there certainly is a decent amount of those in this film, but not enough to make it a good one. I totally understand the way in which the filmmakers intended on satirizing things, so no, it's not that I *missed* the jokes, but rather, it's that sometimes the arrows hit and sometimes they miss. It's as simple as that. I do feel bad about giving this a rotten review (as I often do with movies that I rate 5/10, since they're right on the cusp), especially because I think that actors like Baruchel and Downey, Jr. deserve better than that, but at least they can have consolation in the fact that they definitely provide the majority of the laugh-inducing moments in an otherwise uneven comedy.
5/10
