An Action Comedy Satire About Hollywood

Rating: 9/10 (21 September 2014)

Tropic Thunder is an action comedy that features Ben Stiller,Jack Black and Robert Downey,Jr. The story is about a group of actors with prima donna attitudes who were making a fictional Vietnam War movie that were taken in the middle of the jungle.Tom Cruise,Matthew McConaughey and Nick Nolte were among the other stars that appeared in the star- studded cast.It was directed by Stiller,who co-wrote the screenplay together with Justin Theroux and Etan Coen.The film takes a satirical look at Hollywood.
A Vietnam War film is having difficulties being completed due to the problems encountered by the director among its stars - Tugg Speedman,Jeff Portnoy and Kirk Lazarus - that have attitude problems.The director of the film,Damien Cockburn is under very hot water with producer Les Grossman as he is unable to complete the film in time.In order to gain control of the set,Cockburn follows the advice of a Vietnam War vet - Leaf Tayback - and took his cast into the jungle and plans to film the movie with hidden camera unaware that they are in real danger.
This is a film that is easy to enjoy.While many of jokes I did not find really funny considering that they are over the top and grossly offensive,it still manages to be appealing and entertaining.It did well on picking on Hollywood with regards to the issues in it with the characters of the film particularly the actors who themselves have issues with their acting careers from Tugg Speedman,an action star trying to move away from action films;Kirk Lazarus,a multi- awarded actor who wants to totally immerse into the character that he portrays; and Jack Portnoy,a comedian who has a drug problem.Added to that,the fictional war manages to effectively allude to popular war film like Rambo,The Bridge Of The River Kwai,and Platoon.Overall,it still was a manageable film despite is flaws.