Tropic Thunder ~~~

1st October 2008

What can be said about a film which drops a bunch of prima-donna, drugged up, failing actors into the jungles of Northern Thailand under the misapprehension that they are being secretly filmed with the hope of producing the best Vietnam movie in history? No-one can argue the premise isn’t a good one.

The film begins with mock film trailers of the latest hits and misses of the actors involved in the latest production of a Vietnam War movie. Ben Stiller is Tugg Speedman a failing actor having recently portrayed an action hero and magnificently cruel version of a Forrest Gump-like character on screen. Ben Stiller also directed and co-wrote the film with the equally as talented Justin Theroux. Hats off to Mr Ben et al. Robert Downey Jr, without doubt relishing his role in this film, is showed as having previously portrayed a confused monk in what looks like a ‘The Name of the Rose’ piss take with Tobey McGuire making a cameo appearance as the other monk with whom he shares a rosary bead fondling moment. As Kirk Lazarus, an award winning ‘method’ actor, he’s great but can it be argued that he crosses a very politically ambiguous line when he undergoes an op to ‘black’ himself up for the new role?

His fellow actors on set spend much of their time reminding him that he isn’t a black guy and is thus disentitled to feel slighted when his ‘brothers’ are dissed etc. I’m not sure how to feel about that one but I think the issue of certain actors stepping into certain characters shoes unnecessarily is a valid point to be raised. At least here it’s done tongue in cheek and with real relish! Finally, of note is Jack Black’s strung out, drugged up, washed up ‘comedy’ actor Jeff Portnoy. His mock trailer shows a none too subtle version of an Eddie Murphy ‘chuckler’ in the form of an overweight, fart addicted family sitting around a dinner table making rude noises but later cuts to the actor behaving badly in red carpet interviews. He is indeed a vile character and one which I am sure the writers thought they had a handle on. I could really have done without both Jack Black and his sweaty, useless, moaning dusted up thespian. I do believe that the writers have first hand evidence of all of these peculiar ‘actors’ in the real Hollywood and I’m sure there’s worse out there but I’m not sure if I really needed the satirical energy wasted on them.

Nevertheless, the film moves at quite a pace and the scenes in the jungle are well filmed. The group, led by Brit Steve Coogan as idiotic director of mayhem, find themselves behind real enemy lines without their knowledge. Believing themselves to be completing the film with real ‘method’ acting, they stumble across a vicious band of locals and, as you can imagine, spend the rest of the film trying to escape capture. Little do they know that the plan has already gone wrong and the ‘baddies’ are really trying to get them rather than being the extras on the film set guiding them to the conclusion of the movie. It’s like a film within a film within a film. Go figure. We, at least, are in on the ‘joke’. Nick Nolte plays a Vietnam vet on set to keep the crew true to his original book of his ‘real life’ jungle escapades. Even this is an illusion. And I think that’s what the main point of the film is – that Hollywood, the actors, even the films themselves are really all illusion. Tugg’s agent played enthusiastically by Matthew McConaughey is used to show how fickle the movie world is. Surrounded in his office with old Tugg memorabilia, he fights for his client’s right to have Tivo in his on set trailer despite bigger issues coming to light. Also adding to the notion that the movie world is fake, merely a manipulated and constructed world by those with the power, is the addition of the all powerful and totally egoistical character of Les Grossman, the studio boss. What he says goes. And whilst I would love to tell you who’s playing this greasy and repugnant character, I’ll let you work that out for yourselves. But fair play to him for letting loose. Usually less is more but in this case more is not nearly enough!

Cutting to the chase, the film spirals a little out of control once the set piece of the gang trying to rescue of one of the actors begins. Bombs, fire, explosions etc. Too much. Tugg gets lost in his ‘method’ and turns out to be able to produce a spot on Marlon Brando in the jungle from ‘Apocalypse Now’ impression. Blink and you’ll miss it. There are many and various send ups of a whole barrel full of well know and possibly well disliked characters and industry people. Did the ‘industry’ laugh in spite of itself with this one? Who knows what insider bitching goes on in the wonderful world of the movies?

Moving on, the film kept me giggling throughout but I rather hoped I’d be laughed out loud. Downey Jr rarely disappoints me but in this, although appreciating his sense of humour and daring on taking on what could have been such a controversial role, wasn’t really too nuanced to cause any real damage. The real black actor within the film could have been given a few more lines. The character of Alpa Chino, played wonderfully by Brandon T Jackson, had to take a lot of shit from the character of Downey Jr. If he hadn’t been such a great actor, might it have turned out a little sour?

The film within a film within a film is a great concept (although Shakespeare beat them to it by several hundred years as I am sure many others had done so before all around the world) but it didn’t all work quite as it should. It was a little too frenetic in parts and descended into madness too soon. The characters interacted very well with each other but the story needn’t have been so complicated. Jack Black didn’t need to be in it. At all. Sorry but his character was just an over indulgent side-track. For a spoof the jungle scenes and action shots were very well done as was the detail of being on set with all the crew and cast members. The writers have certainly had their experiences of the movies first hand. Had this film been edited a little more judiciously, it may have been funnier for it. I did enjoy many aspects but some parts were a little too well observed – Tugg’s impossibly mentally challenged ‘Forrest’ being one. Too cruel by far!

Anyway, if you have a couple of hours to spare and you know the difference between right and wrong but have no problem in seeing them merge and swop places occasionally, please do give this flick a go. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.