Dvd
Tropic Thunder
Downey Jr's character is an Oscar-winner who takes on a role originally written for a black actor. Rather than re-write the part, he dyes his skin black. Downey Jr says, "If it's done right, it could be the type of role you called Peter Sellers to do 35 years ago. If you don't do it right, we're going to hell."
This film is Stiller's first as director since Zoolander, and could upset a lot of sensitive people (Stiller's character adopts an Asian baby but worries "that all the good ones have gone"). Apparently he got the idea over twenty years ago while shooting Empire of the Sun.
Starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Nick Nolte, Jay Baruchel, Steve Coogan, Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey, Tobey Maguire
Directed by Ben Stiller ('Zoolander')
Written by Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux, Etan Cohen
1hr 47mins | Rated (R16) | Contains violence, sexual references and offensive language | Origin: USA
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The Talk
7 votes / No comments
Flicks review
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4
From the genius fake trailers at the start to Tom Cruise's end titles dance routine (no, really), Tropic Thunder is one hell of a night at the movies.
Since Zoolander, Ben Stiller's last directorial effort, the Judd Apatow set has hit big, blending laughs and pathos, and you can tell that Stiller has upped his game as a result. Not only is Tropic Thunder cheek-aching funny, it's also satirical, cleverly plotted, thrilling in places and has a real beating heart. As stupid as its main characters may be, by the end you actually do care whether they make it.
Stiller's Tugg Speedman is the anchor point - Apocalypse Now's Colonel Kurtz in 'dumb action star' form. Meanwhile, Black gets to mock himself, Stiller and every other overpaid Hollywood screwball as drug-hoover Jeff Portnoy, star of The Fatties, a fart-based movie series in which he plays all the characters (sound familiar, Eddie Murphy?).
But it's Downey Jr., as method actor Kirk Lazarus, who makes the film. Every time he speaks, every noise he makes, hell, every time his pigment-altered face appears, it's a riot, walking a satirical line between ignorantly racist and innocently insecure to perfection. Steve Coogan’s part in the film is all too brief, but his exit is the funniest moment you’ll see on film this year and it's Downey Jr.'s deadpan confusion that really makes it.
Throw in Tom Cruise shrieking: "Now take a step back, and fuck your own face!" as hairy-armed R&B-loving studio exec Les Grossman and you've got an ensemble to die for, in a film that makes the most of it. Tropic Thunder could easily have been a crass spoof, or a disjointed skit-based affair. It isn't – it works, and you'll be quoting it for months.
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The people's reviews
6 reviews
Press Reviews
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Chicago Sun-Times [Roger Ebert]
When it's all over, you'll probably have the fondest memories of Robert Downey Jr.'s work. It's been a good year for him, this one coming after "Iron Man." He's back, big time.
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FilmThreat.com [USA]
To top everything off, Tom Cruise may just have resurrected his career with the role of Les Grossman.
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Hollywood Reporter
Stiller manages his movie nicely so that all actors get their share of the comic spotlight. Seldom does an ensemble comedy not contain a single weak character or performance as does this one.
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New York Times
A flashy, nasty, on-and-off funny and assaultive sendup of the film industry.
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NZ Herald [Francesca Rudkin]
3
Tropic Thunder is a relatively smart and refreshingly politically incorrect satire, and there is a lot to like as it takes the mickey out of Hollywood's twisted priorities, fart jokes, action films, dummed-down scripts and unrealistic plot lines, overly pampered actors and money-hungry studios. Of course, it falls victim to most of this itself, but at least you'll get a laugh out of it.
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The Dominion Post [Graeme Tuckett]
4
It's been done before, but it hasn't been done this well for years. Tropic Thunder might just be the last behind-the-scenes-on-a-movie movie that anyone needs to make for a long time to come.
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The Press [James Croot]
4
Gleefully un-PC, Tropic provides some of the most fun you'll have at the cinema this year.
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