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'Thunder' Seamlessly Mixes Action, Laughs

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By CHRISTY LEMIRE

The Associated Press

Published: August 13, 2008

Updated: 08/13/2008 02:44 pm

"Tropic Thunder," Ben Stiller's extravaganza of a Hollywood satire, couldn't be any more "inside-baseball" if it contained references to the infield fly rule and Rule 5 draft picks.

This movie-within-a-movie is certainly his most ambitious production as a director, and it contains some of the biggest belly laughs of his career. Although it blends comedy and action sequences skillfully, the endeavor winds up feeling overwrought and repetitive.

Stiller produced, co-wrote the script and stars as Tugg Speedman, an increasingly irrelevant action hero who now leads the ensemble cast of the Vietnam War epic "Tropic Thunder."

When Tugg and his equally pampered cast mates turn out to be too distracted to commit to the production, and costs start spiraling out of control, the overwhelmed first-time director (Steve Coogan) leads them into the jungle to bond and fend for themselves. However, what they think is a carefully crafted exercise in make-believe turns out to be all too real when they run into a heroin manufacturing operation.

Jack Black is typically manic and a bit one-note as Jeff Portnoy, the drug-addicted comic star of the flatulent "Fatties" franchise. It's Robert Downey Jr. who takes the humor to a daring, inspired level with his hilarious turn as Kirk Lazarus, an Academy Award-winning Australian actor who's so method-y, he undergoes skin-pigmentation surgery to play a black soldier.

Although this probably sounds tasteless and potentially offensive, a couple of factors make it work. First, of course, there's Downey, who's intelligent enough to bring nuanced bravado and even some surprising sympathy to the role. Considering Downey's propensity for digging deep for his own roles, including his Oscar-nominated performance in "Chaplin," it's a cute, sly in-joke to have him poke fun at himself.

Second, there's Brandon T. Jackson as rapper-turned-actor Alpa Chino, who is black and who calls Kirk out for the ridiculousness of co-opting his culture.

Nick Nolte is a perfect casting choice to play the grizzled vet whose rescue memoir is the basis for "Tropic Thunder," with Danny McBride getting some goofy laughs as the film's mulleted explosives expert.

Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, studio chief Lee Grossman (Tom Cruise) barks orders and gets off on the power he wields even in this time of crisis.

The screenplay doesn't have anything particularly original to say about the insanity of Hollywood excess - Matthew McConaughey, for example, is appropriately slick as Tugg's agent, whose primary goal is ensuring that his client has TiVo while on location - but the film makes its points mostly in a vivid, lively way. That is, until the explosions and other knowingly over-the-top moments of violence grow redundant.

Make sure you arrive on time: The fake trailers at the start might just be the best part.

MOVIE REVIEW

Tropic Thunder **½

MOVIE BOARD RATING: R; pervasive profanity including sexual references, violent content and drug material

STARS: Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr.

DIRECTOR: Steve Coogan
LOCATION: See movie times, Page 8, for local showtimes.

PLOT SUMMARY: Actors making a war movie stumble into a real war.

RUNNING TIME: 106 minutes

ON THE WEB: www.tropic thunder.com

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