I personally have always wondered what certain actors are like for real. You know, the ones that you see all the time that are in and out of rehab, those who are constantly under the media spotlight and so forth.
Frankly, is it just an act? Do they pull off these stunts so people simply won’t forget about them, or do they really have serious issues that they need to deal with? Lets face it, what is it about fame that tends to bring out the worst in people? Money doesn’t seem to fill a void in their lives, so they turn to drugs and other similar substances to try and compensate.
Eh, there I go again waxing philosophical over a trivial topic, one that I doubt very much that I’ll ever understand.
Or is it that a lot of actors just want to push the envelope and go out of their way to offend?
To be honest, Tropic Thunder is an offensive movie. It’s not quite as offensive as say – Team America, World Police or that upcoming Hamlet 2, but it still is offensive.
And I’m sorry to say that it was the offensiveness of this movie that made me laugh.
As per usual, I will not disclose any spoilers about the movie other than what you will have seen in trailers from various sources.
The plot is pretty basic… a group of actors are making a film about the war in Vietnam, specifically a rescue mission that took place (all make believe of course).
Problem is that the actors simply can’t add enough realism to the film, even though one went and had radical alterations done to make him appear as an African American – mind you that he was blond, blue eyed and about as Australian as they come.
All the actors in the movie have issues – be it overindulgences in drugs, losing themselves in their characters, or simply watching their once great careers slowly swing down the drain to obscurity and infamy.
Now, throw a first time director in that’s on his last legs (no, I’m not kidding) who’s given an ultimatum to finish a film that is already in trouble, and the insanity really begins.
He decides to put them in the middle of the jungle, with explosives and smoke set up all around them, and of course hidden cameras to catch the action in order to try and help the actors get more into character.
Well, next thing you know the actors are in trouble with drug runners for real, and all the while they think its all part of the movie.
Now, did I mention this movie will offend? It will offend gays, it’ll offend those who are mentally challenged it’ll offend those of various ethnic backgrounds.
And I’m going to hell because I laughed at all of it.
Fact of the matter is that what makes the movie even more entertaining is that three of the main actors for the film are completely off their rockers, be it from, as I stated before, getting too much into character or having drug issues.
Oh, and by the way, this movie is NOT kid friendly. I’m fairly lenient when it comes to what my son will watch, and I wouldn’t take him to see this film for two major reasons. The F bomb is dropped with regularity, and there IS gore.
Quite honestly, the best actor in the film is Robert Downey Jr. He is frankly, quite brilliant in his role, and for the most part garnered more than his fair share of laughs. Ben Stiller is pretty good too, but to be honest, I found he wasn’t as funny as Jack Black’s drug addled actor.
Black came close to stealing the show a couple of times - especially when he’s tied to the tree. But I won’t spoil it for you.
Oh, and be warned, the trailers before the movie, well if you can’t figure out that several of them are fake, then maybe you should give your head a shake. However, some of the trailers make serious fun of movies we’ve seen in the past. You’ll understand what I mean when you see it.
The soundtrack was quite the eclectic mixture as well - classic music from the sixties that is always related to the Vietnam War (CCR, Rolling Stones, just to name two), and a mixture of modern hip hop.
Finally, Tom Cruise has a role in the movie, but to be honest, I had no idea and I didn’t recognize him until the very end.
There are also appearances by Nick Nolte and Mathew McConaughey.
This movie was made to be both funny and offensive, and even though I did enjoy it, I seriously doubt it’ll be a late summer blockbuster.
Not great, but not terrible. If you had to choose, see Get Smart instead.