Tropic Thunder
Tropic Thunder is supposed to be a satire on the self-absorbedness and
pretentiousness of modern Hollywood actors, directors and
producers. Therefore, it is rather shocking that this is the shallowest,
most ridiculous, least funny, most overblown waste of talent and time in
many years.
Funny
thing is, I saw it with a bunch of film professionals and lots of them
seemed to think it was hysterical.
Maybe
movie folks really are as out of touch as Tropic Thunder thinks.
That
doesn’t make Tropic Thunder a good movie.
Tropic Thunder is not merely a bad movie, it is a misfire of nearly
shocking proportions - one that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath
as such immortal turkeys as Hudson Hawk, Wild Wild West and
Gigli.
Why so many talented actors would feel the need to be a part of this mess is
a mystery which may never be solved. How could they have possibly thought
that this would actually work? Did (co-star and director) Ben Stiller have
incriminating pictures of Jack Black, Nick Nolte, Steve Coogan, Matthew
McConaughey, Tom Cruise and Robert Downey, Jr.?
In
fairness, Downey is the one sign of comic life in this otherwise overstuffed
corpse of a movie. Despite the fact that he has to play his character in
black-face, Downey commits to the ridiculousness of the man and actually
mines it for some laughs.
This is
just one in your face borderline-offensive situation which also has
Stiller’s character as an actor playing a mentally challenged character so
broadly as to make you cringe, Black as a fat comic known for his atomic
farts and Cruise mugging desperately as a chubby, bald, totally despicable
movie exec.
The
relatively unknown Jay Baruchel (TV's Undeclared, Million Dollar Baby,
Knocked Up) is the only actor other than Downey who comes out of this
mess looking good.
It’s
not a bad idea – a bunch of pampered actors making a film in the Vietnamese
jungle end up involved in a real battle with drug runners. However, most of
the characters are so toxically unlikeable you can’t give a damn about them
and their situation.
Then, Tropic Thunder starts ladling on revolting and ridiculous
brutality, bloodshed and explosions. Just doing it broadly doesn’t make it
funny.
I saw the cartoonish violence of Tropic Thunder less than a
week after the absurd mayhem of Pineapple Express. It scares me that
these are considered the cutting edge of new comedy. On the plus
side, next to this, Pineapple Express is comparatively restrained.
The
scary thing is - Tropic Thunder has been
getting some relatively good reviews.
Maybe movie
reviewers really are as out of touch as Tropic Thunder thinks. Or – in
fairness – maybe I'm the one who is out of touch. Maybe I’m somehow missing
a vein of great humor in Tropic Thunder which never, ever showed
itself to me.
I
don't care what anyone else says. I can't stress to you enough how much I
truly HATED Tropic Thunder. It is mind-numbingly bad. See it at
your own risk.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2008 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved.
Posted: August 17, 2008.
