Edgy/Funny

Rating: 8/10 (15 August 2008)

This film is a great satirical spoof of action films, Hollywood, and pop culture. The trailers are hilarious and are a good barometer of what is going on in pop culture at this moment.
The movie takes awhile to get going, because of all the set up that is needed to explain the movie within a movie. Once the boys are on a mission, the parodies start rolling and things get funny.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding Robert Downey Jr.'s character and the character of Simple Jack. I think Simple Jack shows up Hollywood's tendency to award Oscars to actors who play people that suffer from mental retardation to a certain degree (Dustin Hoffman-Rainman- Tom Hanks-Forrest Gump). At one point in the movie, Downey's character advises Stiller's character that Forrest Gump wasn't too mentally retarded, because he played ping-pong with Nixon. He states Sean Penn didn't win an Osacar for Sam I am, because he went all the way in his portrayal. The irony is Downey's character went through surgery to be black, when a black actor could have just been casted in the first place. The film keeps itself in check through conversations like these and other characters who give other characters a reality check, like Alpha Chino constantly calling Downey's character out on talking black gibberish. The film is spoofing the fact that some actors take on specific roles in order to win an Oscar, even if their portrayal is offensive. I don't think this film is derogatory toward anyone who is mentally challenged, but is referring to someone who is foolish or does things considered socially ridiculous, like a white actor portraying a black actor.
Downey Jr as an actor in make up to make him look black, was a risky move, but his character is somewhat reminiscent of black actors in action films, especially the one from the 80's (see Commando, Action Jackson, to name a few). What keeps the character from being unacceptable to the audience, is Alpha Chino acting as the Greek Chorus, who constantly calls Lazarus out on his silly "black" sayings. Lazarus thinks quoting the Jefferson's theme song as a dramatic actor's monologue(which is totally hilarious) will earn him an Oscar.
The spoofs of "Apocalypse Now" and "Platoon" area funny. Tom Cruise gives a nice turn as a greedy, egocentric agent. You do recognize him, I'm not sure why some people don't know it is him until the end of the film. There was something disturbing about Cruise's character's use of rap music as a background to his represent his cold anger, where as "Alpha Cino's" commercial spot did emphasize the blatant misogyny (perhaps to cover up the fact Alpha Chino is possibly gay) in some aspects of hip hop music and people got the joke right away. Stiller's character as a take on Brando from Apocalypse Now, which is a take on a character in the novelist Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" is great and that fact that unlike the book, Downey and Stiller kind of bounce back to a reality and understanding of themselves in a new way.
The comments on celebrity adoption, celebrity cover up's, homophobia, and excess is not lost on anyone, due to the prevalent culture of celebrity in our culture at this time, with shows like TMZ, Access Hollywood, ET, just to name a few. Go see the movie.