Tropic Thunder

I've heard so much about this upcoming new addition to the current trend of R-rated comedies, starring Ben Stiller and Robert Downey, Jr. It's being advertised as a spoof of both old "based on a true story" 'Nam films and the filmmakers who made them, exemplified by Downey's character, an Australian method actor who undergoes plastic surgery in order to play an African-American role. Stiller portrays a "serious" actor struggling for big dramatic recognition, and Jack Black supports as a diva comedian in a role that pokes fun at Eddie Murphy.

I just watched the red-band trailer - that being the trailer that goes along with the R-rating as opposed to being approved for all audiences - and I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it or not. The trailer was very funny and definitely showed a sharp hand in skewering its source material in all the right places, and Downey Jr. was just hilarious, and it also showed that the film will take most of the pages out of The Stuntman's book. (Never heard of it? It's a weird, obscure, not entirely good 70's satire in which Peter O'Toole plays a megalomaniac director who creates real danger instead of staged danger to psychologically torment his stunt man.) It had two great scenes spoofing Platoon, and it seems that the majority of the film's R-rating will come from language and gore - the end of the trailer features a particularly gross joke involving a real severed head that Stiller's character thinks is a prop.

So, it'll either sink much too far into tastelessness and triteness, or it will be an actually sharp satire, with strong performances. It's always hard to tell with a film featuring Ben Stiller. He's proven himself a very good actor in both comedic and dramatic spheres, when the film isn't purely a star vehicle for him and he has the right director keeping him in check - I think of particularly solid ensemble performances in Mystery Men and The Royal Tennenbaums. The trailer, and publicity for Tropic Thunder, does seem to indicate that the focus is on the ensemble rather than on Stiller, which is promising. Plus, if it pokes as much fun at Oliver "I Make The Deepest, Most Controversial Films In The WORLD!!!" Stone as it appears to, that'll also be a bonus in my book.


I'll rent it, unless it's playing at the Galaxy in Moose Jaw (which is where we'll be when it's released), in which case I'll probably coerce someone into going with me, because the Galaxy costs only 50 cents more than a new release from Blockbuster. And it has good screens and everything! I love Saskatchewan!