9/5/2008 11:27:00 AM
Tropic Thunder
| |
|
| Amanda's Rating System | Because everyone loves rating systems, with this column I introduce my own personal movie appreciation scale.
* I saw this movie so you don't have to, you'll thank me later
* Go only if you have no other choice and you must leave the house
** Expect your money's worth, no more, but perhaps you should rent it
*** Definitely a wise choice, I am proud of you
**** Miss this movie and I will personally take away your Movie Buff badge.
|
|
Amanda Glam
Entertainment Writer
As personal cinema guru to many friends and relatives and all the wonderful and enlightened people who read this column, I feel it is my privilege and duty to direct you to movies that will provide you with the most value for your entertainment dollar. I do not want you leaving the theater, tossing your empty Milk Duds box into the trash and muttering, "That's two hours of my life I'll never get back."
To me there is nothing worse than a comedy that does not deliver the laughs, and I have sat through far too many.
I did not expect to laugh as much as I did in Tropic Thunder. Unless you are of a more delicate nature and easily offended, this very funny and ambitious comedy may be the best time you have at the movies all summer. And if you are in "the business" as I am or have a general knowledge of moviemaking, you'll laugh even harder.
In Tropic Thunder (R for profanity, violence.) co-writer/director/star Ben Stiller and his crew take on Hollywood in a way that puts all those silly Scary Movie(s) and heaven help us, the current Disaster Movie, to shame. Exceptional casting and a sassy script poke brilliant fun at pampered superstars, method acting, groveling agents, movie financing etc.
Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, an action star not unlike Sylvester Stallone, who sees career salvation in a Vietnam action flick he's filming with Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), a popular comedian with a drug problem, and Australian multi-Oscar-winner Kirk Lazarus.
Our very own Iron Man, Robert Downey, Jr., takes the biggest risk and wins, playing Lazarus, an actor who is so "method" he undergoes a skin-darkening procedure to win the role of the black sergeant. Lazarus stays in character pretty much through the entire movie which bothers rapper-turned-actor Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) quite a bit.
As the filming goes from troubled to certified disaster, the actors playing soldiers slowly and in Speedman's case, very slowly, realize they are actually going to have to become soldiers to get out of the Vietnam jungle alive. Their efforts are put to the test when they encounter a heroin cartel led by a crazed pre-teen drug lord, convinced that the actors are drug enforcement officers.
Stiller gets top-notch performances from everyone including the extra grizzled Nick Nolte as "Four Leaf" Tayback, the Vietnam veteran whose memoir inspired the movie, Danny McBride ("Pineapple Express") as a gonzo special effects man who is particularly fabulous at blowing things up and Steve Coogan as the overwhelmed and not-destined-for-greatness British director.
Back in Hollywood, Mathew McConaughey gives his all as Tugg's way-too-devoted agent. And in a performance that must be seen to be appreciated, Tom Cruise is nearly unrecognizable and stupendously entertaining as an abusive and foul-mouthed movie producer with some rather hypnotic dance moves.
Along with some great reviews, Tropic Thunder has received harsh criticism for perceived insensitivity to developmentally challenged individuals. On its own, the dialogue could be seen as offensive, but in the context of a "take no prisoners" comedy like this, it is fitting and very funny. What I found much more troubling were a few graphic "war" scenes. I know why Stiller chose to go this route, but I just found it icky.
While Tropic Thunder isn't perfect and might have benefited from one more visit to the editing room, it is bold, smart, go-for-broke satire that made me laugh more than any movie I've seen in a while.
Oh, and please, even if it means skipping your $8 popcorn, do not arrive late to this movie. Some of the best comedy arrives very, very early in the film.
My rating is 3-1/2 stars on the Amanda System.
|
Article Comment Submission Form
|
|
