Not A Home Run Movie, But Probably A Base Hit

Rating: 7/10 (14 August 2008)

I am probably going to get a lot of scrutiny for this review, but I really don't care. The truth is that I saw it, I liked it, but I didn't love it the way I thought I would. Let's face it: this summer has had some surprises, and a few movies that have lived up to their hype. "Iron Man" was one of those pleasant surprises, and "The Dark Knight" fit into the latter category.
However, "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight" are not comedies, and therefore are not as subjective. In other words, there are rarely any mixed reviews for these movies. Comedies are more hit or miss, and this comedy was a mixed bag for me.
I was expecting an over the top farce on Hollywood, and that's exactly what I got. There's a potential problem in that when comedic actors try to spoof the so-called corrupt movie industry, 95% of the audience don't normally get the jokes because they haven't worked in Hollywood. However, one of the movie's strengths is that Ben Stiller, who also wrote and directed this film, made some smart choices in terms of on screen gags and certain cameos to bring a majority of the audience in with the joke. For instance, the mock previews at the beginning of the film were brilliantly over the top. And it was funny to see Tom Cruise as an overweight, short-tempered studio executive.
Also, the movie's #1 strength can be summarized in three words: ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. He was just fantastic in this film. Of course, he's going to face a lot of scrutiny for his role since he spends a majority of it in black-face, but he really nailed the method actor spoof incredibly well. As long as people see that he's making fun of actors who take themselves too seriously, not people of color, they'll enjoy every minute he's on the screen. I would even go as far as to say that Downey could even be a potential nominee for Best Supporting Actor at next year's Oscars. You may think I'm crazy, but remember that Madelyn Kahn was nominated for her role in "Blazing Saddles" back in 1975. Downey's scenes with rapper/actor Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson, a great straight man in this film) were pretty good, too.
Unfortunately, there were some major inconsistencies with the plot and the character development which, had they been explained better, would have resulted in a funnier film. For instance, Ben Stiller plays an Arnold Schwarzeneggar/Sylvester Stallone like action hero who wants to be taken more seriously as an actual actor, which is understandable. However, it is never explained why he kept making those action movies which make him look like a one trick pony. Stiller's character came off more as a cheap ripoff of White Goodman (from "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" (2004)) and Derek Zoolander (from "Zoolander" (2001)) combined. There could have been a lot more originality and depth in his character, but the scenes of him as "Simple Jack" were funny enough to expose his character's vanity.
Furthermore, why would a movie studio hire a first time director (Steve Coogan) to shoot a big budget movie about Vietnam? This is a spoof movie on Hollywood with a lot of name dropping, and no one thought to explain why Oliver Stone wasn't hired, or Francis Ford Coppola. That was a missed opportunity to get a good laugh, and to remove a plot inconsistency.
I love Jack Black, but man, was he a disappointment in this movie! Speaking of plot inconsistencies, it was never explained nor mentioned why Black, as an A-list comedic actor by the likes of Mike Myers or Eddie Murphy, was cast in a serious movie about the Vietnam War. His character appeared to express no motivation to have a serious role, and his drug-addiction antics were also flat and not even worthy of a light chuckle. His character was direction-less, and he really could have been written a lot better for Jack Black's sake. After all, Black is extremely talented and incredibly funny. To see his talent go to waste in this movie is too bad.
I'm sure my disappointment in this movie comes from waiting four months in anticipation for its release. But I reiterate when I say that I'm not entirely disappointed with this movie. There were some moments of big laughs, and those moments came when it didn't seem as though the cast (or the script) tried too hard for a laugh. There were just some missed opportunities for laughs, especially in relation to war movies. For instance, they were shooting a Vietnam movie, yet it seemed as thought the only movie they could spoof was "Platoon" (1986) with Ben Stiller copying Willem Dafoe's famous arms in the air pose. There were also some key opportunities to spoof "Full Metal Jacket" (1987) or "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989). After all, with Tom Cruise in the cast, how could they not reference that movie? So I'm marginally recommending this film. It was good, but not great, and it's worthy of being rented. Robert Downey, Jr. was this movie's saving grace, and he's really the comeback kid of 2008.