Tropic Blunder

Rating: 5/10 (20 August 2008)

It's hard to deny how inspired the premise is: that, in an era where John Rambo gets a blood-soaked, retro-fit reboot and the schlockmeister 'satirists' responsible for "Meet the Spartans" have another sign-of-the-apocalypse turd about to be unleashed upon mouth-breathing American audiences, that Ben Stiller would come along and meld both worlds into an action-comedy taking aim at a point in history that has almost exclusively been relegated to epic dramas ("The Deer Hunter"; "Apocalypse Now"; "Rescue Dawn"): the Vietnam war. While "Tropic Thunder"'s general plot (that a bunch of prima donna macho actors become stranded in Myanmar but think it's all part of a movie they're filming) is far from original, its setting and implications provide a fertile ground for risquÃ© comedic shenanigans; and with a strong cast led by Stiller, Jack Black, and a wonderfully wacky Robert Downey Jr., the promise of a gut-busting good time is all but guaranteed. Strange, then, that while "Tropic Thunder" delivers spurts of chuckle-worthy lines and sight gags (Downey himself being one of 'em), the overall experience feels blunted and safe, reverting to stale satire of the Hollywood system (in a disastrously unfunny subplot involving a slimeball producer (played by none other than Tom Cruise) and an agent (Matthew McConaughey) looking to get his star a TiVO) to defang the proceedings. Even more problematic is the script's confusion over satirizing action-film excesses while being excessive itself: there is a tug-of-war between ridiculously overblown action scenes and broad, "see-what-sticks" humor (which requires the actors--Stiller, Black, and Cruise in particular--to play their parts to the rafters) that ultimately renders the proceedings meandering at best, pointless at worst. While Downey's performance and character shows the only real signs of creativity and comedic riskiness (he's an Australian actor playing a black Southern soldier), the three phony trailers (while also broad send-ups) that precede the actual movie portend a great untapped reservoir of humor. Too bad.