Well made war spoof

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2010)

Movie spoofs are a difficult genre, as if they are made to spoof very recent movies they usually work only a couple of years, if the movies spoofed in them fade away fast. So in a sense it's much more safer to do a spoof of a genre by using classic elements from genre movies that people have remembered for years and will most likely remember in the future as well.
Tropic Thunder is a comedy, that takes its humor from Hollywood stereotypes and Vietnam war movies in general and that is a smart move as I would reckon jokes about half crazy method actors, sexually insecure rap artists, money grubbing producers and drugs popping funny men are always valid. Most direct movie jokes are ripped from movies that are in the general knowledge of most movie viewers, like Platoon and Saving Privare Ryan and the other jokes are in general made from material that doesn't require vast movie knowledge.
Ben Stiller has managed to direct a well cast, well written movie, in which we see some actors in very untypical roles, like Tom Cruise as an obnoxious movie mogul, while some just seem to parody them shelves, just as it seems to be with Robert Downey, who plays a part of a method actor taking his commitment to a role a bit too far.
If you like good movie based comedies with some bit more edged humour, you might like Tropic Thunder as well. It's not as profane as Peter Jackson Meet the Feebles for an example, but it has its moments.