Comedy Of The Year

Rating: 10/10 (18 August 2008)

Tropic Thunder is a film-within-a-film, a spoof-within-a-satire. I am afraid that I cannot comment on the 'political correctness' of the film as I was too busy almost wetting myself with laughter throughout.
On the note of the supposed offensive nature of the movie, I feel as though people who were offended by the movie probably didn't watch the entirety of its running time (just as with the Catholic Church and Monty Python's Life of Brian back in the 70s). Two of the reasons that these so-called 'moral crusaders' say Tropic Thunder is offensive is due to Robert Downey Jr. playing a black soldier and Ben Stiller playing a severely mentally handicapped person in his woeful attempt at drama, 'Simple Jack'.
Firstly, these two roles are not devised to make fun of black people or handicapped people, they are used to poke fun at over-the-top method actors (in the case of Downey Jr's character, Kirk Lazarus) and at lame attempts at playing roles for Oscars (in Ben Stiller's case, he is poking fun at people such as Sean Penn for making movies like 'I Am Sam'). And, even despite this wealth of satire that runs throughout the film, I have to stress that, after all is said and done, Tropic Thunder is simply a very funny movie.
Reason for this is the number of small parts and cameos that the actors involved make the most of. That is not taking anything away from Ben Stiller and Jack Black, who both produce very funny turns as the action guy searching for something more and the comic with a dark secret, but the smaller parts, such as Matthew McConaughey and Nick Noltes', are very funny turns (yes, that's right, Matthew McConaughey made me laugh! Wonders never cease).
And, finally, special mention has to go to Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise. Cruise's role as Les Grossman, the company executive with a mean streak, foul mouth and penchant for all things gangsta, is an absolute joy to watch. It was a very shrewd move on Cruise's part to take the role, and his part in the end credits is probably the funniest end credits I've seen on a film since Toy Story's fake outtakes.
But as with every single review of this film that I've read, Robert Downey Jr. absolutely steals the film as Australian 5-time Oscar winner Kirk Lazarus (Russell Crowe, come on down) and Sergeant Osiris. His is one of the finest comic performances I think I've ever seen, right up there with Peter Sellers' multiple roles in Dr. Strangelove and the guys from Spinal Tap. The Academy Award doesn't give out Oscars for comedy, because they have some misguided notion that somehow drama has more right to a place in the canon of art than comedy, but if they did, Downey Jr. should get one. The man is a revelation and one of the most chameleon-like actors working today, due to his uncanny ability to try his hand at so many different genres of film and types of role.
A top-class comedy that I urge anyone and everyone to see. Ten out of Ten.