Sour and Flat Jungle Juice

Rating: 4/10 (26 March 2009)

"Tropic Thunder" just isn't that funny. The start is good - funny fake movie trailers for the three leads (Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey jnr) and a huge, expensive screw-up on the set. But the main plot of the movie - the actors are dropped off in the middle of the jungle and filmed with hidden cameras and recording equipment to capture their authentic reactions - is just too stupid for words. What kind of movie studio would throw away a truckload of money by having its actors spend most of their time wandering around a jungle, only stopping occasionally to follow the script and deliver their lines? With nobody to direct them? And how did the production team place all that recording equipment around the jungle without ever running into the villains that the actors eventually encounter? Some may think I'm taking this too seriously, but the goofy plot put a big dent in the movie for me. They should have continued with making the war movie the way they did at the beginning.
Apart from some comic bright spots - Stiller's "Simply Jack" moments and his encounter with the thing he loves most in the world are hilarious - there's just not much else that is funny. I'm not a huge Jack Black fan, but I think we can all agree his characters was a weak link and a giant waste of space. Downey's white turned black actor was moderately funny, and I think Tom Cruise's performance is just one of those things people think that they're supposed to love - to me, it just highlighted how unsuited to the role he was. Heck, he showed twice as much viciousness and intensity in 'Magnolia.' A pretty lazy, unfocused and corny romp in the jungle. "Tropic Blunder" indeed.