Tropic Laughter

Rating: Null/10 (28 October 2008)

As a director, Ben Stiller comes up with an awesome amusing satire/spoof that pays homage to classics like 'Platoon', 'The Deer Hunter', 'Rambo', 'Crocodile Dundee', 'Apocalypse Now' and many more. Stiller and co-writer Justin Theroux have done a good job in the writing department. It's got some of the funniest dialogues I have heard in a long time. It couldn't have been easy to make a spoof using references from so many classics and at the same time remain a smart film but these two do a fine job. The plot might is brilliantly infused with humour and homage. The dialogues, acting, overall sense of humour and satire put it much higher than the usual daft comedy.
Clearly their intention was to create something fun and it also looks like the cats and crew had a blast during the making. Contrary to what many have stated, I did not find anything remotely racist or offensive about it. It's a spoof and while some movies of the genre might go a bit too far towards being derogatory, 'Tropic Thunder' stays within the limits and remains funny.
Then of course there's the stellar cast that includes Ben Stiller, Nick Nolte, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr, Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey and Steve Coogan, all of whom work together brilliantly. Stiller is pretty much Stiller. He's likable and carries off the lead role well but it is Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. who stand out. They have the funnier scenes. While goofy comedy isn't anything new to Black, Downey Jr. does an excellent job in playing an Australian actor who plays a fake black man in a war movie. I did a lot of laughing out loud after watching these two. Tom Cruise springs a hilarious surprise as a bald, hairy, vicious, pompous, foul-mouthed film producer and adds to the laughter quotient and Steve Coogan is equally superb as the poor director who is pressured by the studio and who isn't taken seriously by his cast and crew even after his end.
Perhaps the script could have been a little tighter if so many things were not left open to interpretation, such as why that particular island was chosen to get the actors to 'act'. But then again, there's plenty of entertainment to let something like that get in the way. Also the TiVo sequences were a bit overdone but McConaughey does a good job
making a fool of himself with an irritating performance. I wished that his character would be brutally murdered. A few of the jokes were overdone like Ben Stiller tasting the blood from the decapitated head. I did miss a bit of feminine presence as there is hardly any woman.
Overall it is a finely executed film with some sharp camera-work and slick score. The action sequences are well shot. It's a great movie to watch with a bunch of friends and laugh about. I know I'll be revisiting it soon.