Actors, studio execs, action epics, Vietnam War movies, classic rock film soundtracks, and even art films are all fair game in Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller’s mostly hilarious send-up of pompous Hollywood types. By the time Tropic Thunder ends, Stiller’s stuck his comedy knife in deep and eviscerated Sean Penn’s I Am Sam performance, smarmy actors, and out-of-control film industry big wigs.
Tropic Thunder goes way beyond where past spoof movies have ventured. Robert Downey Jr plays an Oscar-winning Aussie who undergoes a skin pigmentation procedure in order to darken his skin enough so that he can play an African-American soldier. Not many modern films would attempt something that crazy. But it’s not just that unusual storyline that puts Tropic Thunder in a league of its own. It took a lot of guts for Ben Stiller and co-writer Justin Theroux to call out their fellow actors, yet what’s even more impressive is that moviegoers don’t have to get every single in-joke to find Tropic Thunder funny.
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Posted under Movie Reviews
This post was written by admin on September 1, 2008
