Surprisingly funny

Rating: 9/10 (13 August 2008)

I had not read much about this film before seeing it, and basically was looking for a pleasant way to kill 2 hours. I'd seen Stiller films before, and Jack Black films before, and they were mildly funny (at best) but often seemed a bit self-indulgent.
This film is their best work to date. No doubt about it. The opening was a bit off-putting, with some really gross cartoonish violence. But by the time of the first "Cut!" a few minutes into the film, the laughter had started. The story is a bit scattershot, but there are some comic scenes in this film that rival anything I have seen in many many years.
Matthew McConaughey was perfect in his role--extremely funny, and not trading on his image as a movie hunk--for example, he did not take off his shirt in this film, something that cannot often be said of him. There are two leading actors who are unrecognizable in this film, Robert Downey and Tom Cruise. Absolutely inspired.
The film is not perfect, but its imperfections are completely consistent with a film this outrageously funny. I absolutely loved it and I intend to see it again soon.