Nearly but not quite - 72%

Rating: 7/10 (27 July 2009)

I've always maintained that Ben Stiller has only ever made one great film, the increasingly dusty "There's Something About Mary". But given the amount of hype and good press behind this movie, maybe this was one that broke the mould. However, I wasn't so sure. You see, the whole 'actors-doing-their-parts-for-real' movie seems to come around every ten years or so - remember "Galaxy Quest" and before that, "Three Amigos"? So in truth, this is still a good movie but not the great side-splitting comedy I was expecting.
Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, a fading action movie star drafted in to play the lead in a big-budget Vietnam war epic alongside low-grade comedy actor Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) and multiple-award-winning method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr). After being dropped into the jungle by rookie director Damian Cockburn (Steve Coogan), a series of accidents leaves the stars together with rap star Alpa Chino (Brandon T Jackson) and up-and-coming actor Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel) to fend for themselves. Convinced that they are still shooting a movie, they soon find themselves in real trouble when heavily-armed irate locals arrive.
Given that Stiller is the brains behind the screenplay and the camera as well, it shouldn't be a surprise that the humour in "Tropic Thunder" can get a little close to the knuckle at times. Whether it's the trouble with acting "full retard" or scratching your head at Downey Jr blacking himself up, I sometimes felt a little uneasy. Not to say I didn't laugh because I did, though it isn't a riot from start to finish. The problem I had is that it's a film within a film that later becomes a film within a film within another film! The other problem is that Stiller isn't as funny as his co-stars - even a heavily disguised Tom Cruise is funnier, given that he's not known for his comic timing. It also badly loses its way towards the end plot wise and although the action scenes are exaggerated, there still isn't anything original in there worth getting excited about. "Galaxy Quest" was funnier and more entertaining and that was back in 1999.
Maybe I'm being unfair but I just felt that this wasn't the laugh-a-minute, all-action blast everyone was talking about. It's good for a night in with the lads and a few beers but seasoned movie-goers probably won't get much out of it. It ain't difficult to spoof a war movie and yet somehow, no-one has done it really well yet. This feels more like a loving tribute to the likes of "Rambo" and "Platoon" instead of the barbed parody it would like us to think it is. It even spoofs "Heart Of Darkness", the documentary about the making of "Apocolypse Now" but if you haven't seen that then what's the point? So has Stiller made his second great film? No but at least he gave this his all. It's good but hardly a classic but it will go down as another "Dodgeball" or "Starsky And Hutch" - a wasted opportunity if ever there was one. Try harder!