So Ben Stiller is still in the business of acting and directing. He showed us he could do it with Zoolander’s infectious, albeit flawed execution and now in the wake of John Rambo we have his latest offering, Tropic Thunder. The film is a scathing satire, which preys on itself like a Mantis with those green sticky legs, except this isn’t the one that you nestle gently in the garden - it’s the head-eating kind.
Stiller’s Tropic Thunder is a strange composite of action and comedy. This is a beast of a film, with one genre trying to consume the other. The main spoof strains are taken from Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket and Platoon, which are milked for all they’re worth. The famous Dafoe Platoon pose and Brando’s elusive spiritual awakening within a jungle tribe are the main fodder. When Stiller and Theroux aren’t rehashing classic war movie scenes, they’re throwing tomatoes at Hollywood. It’s an exercise in self-loathing, which is both insightful and biting. Studio execs and acting managers are cast in the fire with their dog-eat-dog personalities and profit-driven attitude. One particular exec steals the scenes with his vicious brand of Hollywood justice.
The cast is amazing. They may not be firing on all cylinders (bar Downey Jr.), but their comic experience shines through. Jack Black is rooted in something of a Chris Farley meets Eddie Murphy extension. Robert Downey Jr. is just terrific with his take on Russell Crowe as an undercover brother. While Ben Stiller keeps his eyes on the prize as the penultimate action hero Hollywood tiger. Stiller’s role as Tugg Speedman rips into Tom Cruise and trashes top heavy action heroes of the ’80s with his bulging biceps. While cameo performances from the likes of Steve Coogan and Nick Nolte add another dimension to the story with their own brands of funny. This is an all-round guy flick, and would make an excellent spot-the-woman drinking game.
Tropic Thunder is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The comedy is aggressive and the language is coarse. My intial impression was that the excess of “potty” mouth was a stab at war film scripts in general. However, the language diminished the overall quality of the production. The action was gutsy and came off really well in short, sharp bursts like a machine gun. The violence wasn’t out-of-place for the war genre, but didn’t stay in Good Morning, Vietnam territory. The comedy seemed to be pulling against the action and it felt like a boxing match at times. Stiller’s Tropic Thunder is something refreshingly new for commercial cinema, and one can appreciate the ambition behind this vehicle. However, the execution and negative vibes make this comedy more of a bully than a laugh.
The script is so busy muscling you into doubling over that it forgets to pull you back up again for air. There’s no doubt that we’ll be seeing more of these versus genre brands coming out shortly in the wake of Tropic Thunder, but let’s hope they strike a better balance the next time around.
The bottom line: Macho.
