One of the Funniest Films from 2008...

Rating: 9/10 (30 November 2008)

I've noticed that most of the reactions I've gotten from people regarding this film were at one extreme or the other: they either love it or hate it. I'm surprised at some of the negative feedback I've read for this movie, seeing as I found it to easily be one of the funniest movies of 2008. Every time I watch this film, I enjoy it more and more as I find something new to laugh at. The film follows a cast of problematic actors in Vietnam and the director who's having a hard time keeping his film together; so, as a last resort, the director takes his actors into the jungles to give it an aspect of "realism" and the men find themselves pulled into a battle with a local drug cartel.
I guess some people have a problem with the fact that the movie isn't what most people are expecting. For those going to the film for a general spoof on war films, you're barking up the wrong tree. While this movie does that to an extent, it's primarily a satire of the Hollywood system and all those involved...self-centered actors, sycophantic agents, iron-fisted studio heads, etc. The humor in the film is derived from the clashing of these outlandish personalities and their need to overcome their petty insecurities and crutches to survive. Of course, the film does have plenty of the raunchy humor that's expected, but a lot of the funniest moments come from the situations and the awesome performances.
Seriously, this movies has one of the funniest casts I've seen in a while. Ben Stiller (who also directed and co-wrote) is fading action superstar Tugg Speedman who sees this film as a means of reviving his career. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of Stiller's work but this movie changed my opinion on that. Jack Black is Jeff Portnoy, an actor famous for multi-role, gross-out comedies and a heroin addiction. While a lot of people though Black's role was pointless here, I thought he added some great moments ("Let's do the yak..."). My personal favorite in the film is Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus, the award-winning actor who goes through a pigmentation-altering surgery to play the squad's leader. Downey stole every scene he was in and was easily the funniest aspect of the movie with his character's racial incompetence (especially when he got into it with Brandon Jackson's Alpa Chino). The movie also has an awesome supporting cast, particularly Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, and Nick Nolte...Nolte's was freakin' awesome when he went nuts with the flamethrower.
As one of my favorite comedies from 2008, I've completely recommend watching Stiller's film. Just make sure you know what you're going into and watch it for what it is. As long as you can do that, this movie is hilarious (especially the director's cut of the film). Everyone involved in this film did an awesome job and I really hope to see them all pull together in the future for further projects.