Not the full-lark though still earns a chuckle

Rating: 6/10 (30 October 2012)

Irreverent tale of movie stars who are dropped in the middle of Vietnam thinking they'll be covertly filmed to promote realism in their next feature, when they discover they are really being hunted by local rebels. Stiller is the bone-headed leading man, Downey Jnr a face-painted African-American impersonator, Jack Black a cocaine-snorting bowl hair-styled actor whose fictitious credits include copious 'fart-joke' films (perhaps a poke at "Norbit"). Each of them is on a journey to discover their inner thespian and learn to become more humble in the face of adversity, so goes the film's message.
There's some raucously funny moments (Tobey MaGuire's cameo is a side-splitter), but equally, there's a number of misfires and subtlety isn't an adjective you could use to describe Stiller's sledge-hammer style. Tom Cruise's cameo morphs into a self-indulgent supporting role that seriously tests the patience, while by contrast, Steve Coogan's role as a frustrated director, at his wits end dealing with prima donnas, is tragically brief.
Site gags and puerile dialogue aside, the film's core joke and running gags on racism and intellectual disability will either strike a chord, or offend, depending on your moral barometer. If you don't take it too seriously, though it's occasionally hit and miss and probably fifteen minutes overlong, you should still be entertained.