Fun in the Sun

Rating: 7/10 (30 August 2008)

To give due credit, Tropic Thunder is reaching for the stars. It tries to satirize as much of the movie business and the Vietnam-War-film genre as it can. There are high points, such as Robert Downey Jr.'s method actor Kirk Lazarus being so wedded to the character that he can't break free -- even when it has become clearly obvious that they are no longer filming a movie -- or Matthew McConaughey's super agent Rick Peck and his obsession with TiVo. I won't mention Tom Cruise's guest role as a foul-mouthed, iron-fisted dictatorial studio head other than to wonder loudly how things are going over at United Artists.
Why then did I feel so unsatisfied with the movie? I liked it. I enjoyed and laughed heartily through most of the jokes. It was as if the individual jokes were all greater than the sum -- a collection of funny punch lines that are a pastiche of laughs but not a satisfyingly funny routine. Part of it is the unwieldy blending of high-concept satire and lowbrow profanity-laced rants. Swearing can be used to high effect and it plays to perfection at times in Tropic Thunder. The best example (and my favorite line from the film) is from Robert Downey Jr. who, after being asked what kind of farm he works on, mows down the bad guys with his gun and declares that "I'm a lead farmer, mother--" well, you see where I'm going. Initially, Tom Cruise's profanity-ridden rants are funny too. But then you realize that there isn't anything else to the character. His character, Les Grossman, just throws tantrums and screams profanities, a paper-thin joke that works through audacity but wears out after the first rant. After a while the swearing starts to sound like a group of little kids who've just heard their first bad words and think it is funny to yell them over and over again.
On the other hand, I loved the performances. Jack Black's focused insanity was pointed in the right direction and he got a great part that he's well-suited to. Stiller manages to play Tugg Speedman with enough vulnerability that you can buy his need for the fictional movie to be a big hit. The scenes from his critical bomb Simple Jack are priceless, as are Downey's explanation of why Speedman would never have won an Oscar for it. Nick Nolte (good to see him again) has a strong supporting part, as does Steve Coogan as the overwhelmed first-time director. The picture is Downey's, though, and wherever Redd Foxx is, I think he would be proud. Scene-stealing, scenery-chewing and utterly priceless, Downey looks like he's enjoying every minute on screen. If you see Tropic Thunder for any reason, watching Robert Downey Jr. should be it.