I have mixed feelings about this

Rating: 6/10 (20 October 2008)

With its wacky trailer, I was really looking forward to Tropic Thunder. My verdict: I have mixed feelings. It's as if a schizo created this flick. When it's funny, it's really funny; but these moments are not sustained (and not in the way where it is poised to just recharge to setup for more laughs). There are (gasp!) draggy parts and the plot refuses to engage the audience, who thankfully snaps back just in time for the punchlines, which border on sick and irreverent.
Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller, who also directed and co-wrote the film with Justin Theroux) is a fading action superstar who jumpstarting his career with his co-stars Oscar-winner Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.), comic Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), by going to Southeast Asia to film the "biggest, most-expensive war movie ever produced". But when things go wrong (as they often do), they draw on their artistic mettle to do battle as real soldiers when they face a fierce drug ring in the middle of the jungle. Downey, Jr. is the scene-stealer in this flick and spews out more of the wit as a blonde and blue-eyed Australian trying to stay in character to be a convincing black.
Also worth noting are the fake trailers at the start of the movie. Matthew McConaughey as Speedman's overzealous agent; Nick Nolte as the badass writer Four Leaf Tayback, on which the movie was supposedly based; and Tom Cruise as the balding, fat but fierce producer Les Grossman are surprisingly hilarious in their supporting roles. Impressively consistent is the talented Brandon Soo Hoo as the scary child-drug-lord Tran. Also watch out for a bunch of cameos from Tobey Maguire, Tyra Banks, Jon Voight, Jennifer Love Hewitt and more.