Tropic Thunder (2008)

Just a parody of every war film ever made!

Action movie star Tugg Speedman is on the downslide of his professional career. He wants to be considered a serious actor, but his latest serious role as the title character in “Simple Jack” resulted in negative reviews and ridicule. Comedian Jeff Portnoy is best known for his leading roles in sophomoric comedies, and may be less well known for his rampant drug use. Five time Oscar winner Kirk Lazarus is a serious method actor, who immerses himself in whatever the role. On location in southeast Vietnam, they are the stars of “Tropic Thunder”, based on Vietnam war veteran memoirs of his rescue during the war.

>A relentless hard R comedy that fuses elements of practically every famous war film ever made. Beginning with trailers a la Grindhouse for every major character was already a sign of a hilarious film. While most of the humor was “funny-but-i’m-not-laughing” the same amount of laugh out loud humor and gags was provided as well, courtesy of mostly Stiller and Downey Jr. Who I wholeheartedly feel – stole the show. I can’t say I’ve ever seen any character like his in a film of this genre, which already I feel will enter the classics. What’s refreshing about Thunder is that it’s actually original in certain aspects of the storyline; such as when they decide to shoot the film guerilla style in the jungle only to have the director of the film….- I’ll leave this at that. A spoof of war films that isn’t tireless or idiotic like the recent Epic/Date films… which do not even deserve to be called “spoofs”. And be prepared for Cruise, who plays the most radical role of his entire career.

Directed by: Ben Stiller
Starring:
Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise