RDJ standout in a sea of ridiculous characters

Rating: 7/10 (20 June 2014)

A big budget movie shoot in Vietnam is running into difficulties. Special effects Cody (Danny McBride) wastes a big explosion when the camera isn't even shooting. Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) is a top action star who is struggling after a few flops. Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) is a fat hard partying sissy. Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) is a method actor who turned himself black for the movie. Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) is the bumbling director under tremendous pressure from the financier Les Grossman (Tom Cruise). Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte) proposes to take the cast deep into the jungle to shoot guerrilla style. Only it may be too guerrilla when they run into real poppy growing local armed thugs.
Written by Ben Stiller and Justin Theroux, this is a satire of a big time Hollywood production. It's a lot of stupidity. The jokes aren't necessarily sharp or biting. It is a jumble of ridiculous characters doing ridiculous things. In a movie fill with over the top performances, Robert Downey Jr. stands above them all. He outshines everybody and turns in the best performance by being stone faced serious.