Uneven pacing & joke timing. Only mildly funny overall.

Rating: 5/10 (8 October 2010)

Unless this film is best watched under the influence of substances, I can't see how anyone with a halfway sophisticated mind would rate it higher than middling.
The intro "trailers" offered promise of similar clever gags to come, but it seemed like they soaked up more creativity than could be adequately spread throughout the remainder. It became clear about 30 minutes in that this was going to be sub-par.
The pacing gave the impression of trying to seem energetic, but it never got a solid rhythm going. Something was just off about the flow of the jokes, and timing tends to be critical when people are meant to laugh. I got the impression of different writers working on different scenes and not quite comparing notes.
The Tom Cruise fat-suit character was by far the funniest to me, followed by the Robert Downey Jr. black impersonation, then Nick Nolte's grizzled veteran. Stiller only provoked real laughter in the "trailer" scenes and a few intermittent moments. Jack Black just seemed over the top and obnoxious.
I kept taking note of the uneven pacing, and when you find yourself doing that, you know a film isn't quite working. I found it worth watching, but just barely.