TROPIC THUNDER

This was written, directed, and produced by Ben Stiller. And he was also the star of the show. I have never been a Ben Stiller fan. Strike one. The other main star here was Robert Downy Jr., of whom I am a huge fan. However, their characters played the roles of actors. Bad actors. Now I'm wondering how much of a stretch that is to pull that off. How hard is it to pretend to be a bad actor delivering poorly written lines (how hard is it to write bad lines either, Ben), pretending to overact them? How hard is it, or how much of a stretch is it to pretend to be a spoiled and pampered big-time actor who is constantly catered to, to the detriment of their character, in essence, turning them into some unmanageable person who no one can stand to be around? I'm thinking this was not a stretch for either of them. Hey guys, just be yourself. We'll just keep rolling.

Strike two: the opening spoof on a commercial for a sports drink "booty sweat" was so wrong that I would have rated the movie NC-17. There was absolutely no excuse for this, no purpose for this at all. It added nothing to the movie, it did not support the story line in any way, was gratuitous, utterly vulgar, degrading, and I have no other words to do this justice. In fact, this part alone was simply X-rated. Keep in mind this was within the first 3 minutes of film, and I nearly walked out.

Strike three: The language was bad throughout the entire film. However, what got to me was not necessarily the language, but the sexual references. People have mentioned "innuendo." There is no innuendo here. This is spelling it out and drawing you a mental picture. There is no subtle undertone so some people will get it and others won't. There was one scene in particular with Jack Black who was attempting to "get clean." Black was offering services (that is an example of innuendo) to another actor in exchange for being released after having second thoughts. The "services" he offered were descriptive to the point of being nauseating. So wrong, in fact that the NC-17 rating again should be applicable.

A SMALL SHINING MOMENT
There was a shining moment or two in the film. (Gasp) Thankfully, someone thought to cast Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey, who were absolutely brilliant in their roles, although their screen time was insufficient. Cruise's performance was over the top and he was almost unrecognizable-this was laugh out loud funny. Matthew McConaughey brought a more serious tone to the film, and was not to be outdone by any cast member. By far, their presence in the film is the best thing about it.

I would never recommend this film to anyone for any reason. I would recommend that you wait for it to come out on DVD, fast forward to the parts with Tom Cruise (particularly the parts where he is dancing) and watch those 10 or 15 minutes of footage only. Spare yourself the crass, vulgar, and cheap slapstick that you can find in any comedy flick.

-Juli

Video Vault