Ben Stiller Should Direct More Films

Rating: 8/10 (28 August 2008)

After a big movie explosion goes wrong (they didn't even film it) the director is talked into taking his actors of the new film tropic thunder, into the real gritty war world. What the actors think are scenes being filmed for the movie is actually drug criminals and real war.
Tropic Thunder is a fresh dose of comedy during a time when we have been overloaded with Apatow produced films. Not saying his films are bad, but they do follow a certain path and they all have the same feel. I wanted something different and not something that The House Bunny or the next "Epic Movie" could offer. Enter Ben Stiller, who has had some trouble as of late with the films he has been in. Tropic Thunder isn't a big change, but it's a refreshing change and one that I welcomed and enjoyed.
Ben Stiller's previous directing effort was Zoolander. That film is really hit or miss. I found it to be stupid, yet in a funny way. It knew it was stupid, unlike other films that try to be funny and completely miss the tongue in cheek aspects. Where that film made fun of models, Tropic Thunder makes fun of Hollywood. Frm the hilarious trailers at the start to the way people like agents and producers act behind the scenes. I loved the look of this film, it is almost the total opposite of what and how war films are shot. It's too pretty to be a war film and it works with how these characters live in this world. They are oblivious to most things...even when there is a dead body.
The film starts of strong and ends strong as well. It's the middle act where it has most of the problems. Even if you can see the joke coming, you still laugh because of the delivery, good job for the actors on that one. Sure Ben Stiller is paying the same character again, but it works in this film. He manages to make it a little more fresh then stale. I wasn't too impressed with Jack Black, but he does get one of the best jokes in the entire film. (The bit when he is tied to the tree). Robert Downey Jr. is getting the praise here and he deserves it. Being in both Iron Man and Tropic Thunder, in which he steals the entire show, this is his year.
The film is more vulgar and violent then I thought it would be. Most of the gore happens in the opening of the film during the filming of the war movie. It is over-the-top and pokes fun at how blood filled war films are. But it may catch peple off guard who are put off by that sort of thing. There is also quite a bit of swearing, but most of it is from a character who isn't involved in the 'war'. While I found both of these aspects funny for the film, others may not.
Tropic Thunder is decent, I enjoyed it, was expecting a bit more on the parody of war films, we get Platoon, but where's Deer Hunter? I probably enjoyed it more because it pokes fun at Hollywood and the go around of it all. I tend to gravitate towards that style. All the cameos are great. I don't want to ruin any of them because that would ruin the joke. I can see why some people may not like it, it has been done before and may offend some people. I didn't find any of the Simple Jack bits that funny. While you may not think the film is up to par with more intelligent comedies, it is a nice breath of fresh air.