A group of actors are dumped in the middle of nowhere so that they can learn how to act the part of real soldiers.

Rating: 6/10 (18 November 2008)

When I first read about this movie (I had read no reviews) my first thought was this was a copy of Galaxy Quest. And in a way it is. The usual Fish Out of Water scenario, but this time the actors are forced to learn how to learn how to play military personnel since not one of them is able to do so and somehow end up being put down too far away from the movie set. Stiller is one of those actors that you really like him, or just tolerate him, or you cannot stand is grandstanding. It seems lately that most of his movies, other than Night at the Museum, he's showing off his great body. I had to turn on the English subtitles because I could not understand a lot of what the actors were saying, and this was not just Downey's part. Black, I do not know what to say, as he seems to get stuck in the same type of roles and I sure would love to see him branch out more. There's a lot of talent there and I think it's getting wasted. Same with Stiller. Diversify guys! But the premise of the movie is, as stated above, your proverbial fish out of water story, with a lot of special F/X tossed in. Also a lot of noise, which drowns out the dialogue. The story goes along according to plan, and you can figure out what will happen in the next scene fairly easily. This is not to say that the movie does not entertain. I think that was the main point. Forget a plausible storyline and believable characters and just let loose. I got the feeling that a lot was improvised, and if so, then maybe these were the areas in the film that were the best. At least for me. Pay special attention to the 1st few minutes when it's a true parody of movie trailers. This is the funniest few minutes in the entire movie, and one I went back to watch again.