Stiller Gets Lost

Rating: 3/10 (28 September 2008)

Ben Stiller receives a ton of goodwill from me. Asides from looking like a thoroughly likable person, he's been in a couple of films which I have loved. Worringly he has also been in more films that I haven't. In fact, it is hard to remember the last time a Stiller film made me laugh. As I walked in to the cinema to see Tropic Thunder my fingers were crossed.
It started off brilliantly. The first five minutes were guffaw inducing, popcorn spilling nuggets of comedy gold. It was like bumping into an old friend and picking up where we had left off. Then reality set in and for the rest of the film it felt like watching the old friend disappear into something he was not.
The story felt as though it had been butchered from a once promising idea. At no point during the film did it deserve my suspension of disbelief. If, as a film maker, you are going to ask me to suspend it at least fill in the gap. As this was a comedy, give me laughs. There weren't any I can remember. I know the Cruise moment was meant to be funny, but to me it wasn't even close to raising a smile. The crudity and attempts at offensiveness were sad to watch. Surely Stiller has more talent than that?
This is a film about becoming detached. Detached is exactly what Stiller has become. It's as though he has lost sight of what makes something funny. Hopefully he'll be found sooner rather than later!
Maybe I just missed the irony and subtle subtext? That's what I'm clinging to because I still want Stiller to succeed. My hope is that he resets his dials and gets it right next time because any more dross like this and he'll end up relegated to that strata of the last resort DVD rental when all the good films are out.