Tropic Thunder Review

Making a good comedy is already difficult enough, but coming up with something that's both really smart AND incredibly dumb is a probably the trickiest balancing act anybody can try.

Director Ben Stiller — who's been landing on the "incredibly dumb" side of the spectrum WAY too much lately — mostly succeeds with "Tropic Thunder."

The film centers around a group of actors — played by Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Brandon T. Jackson and Jay Baruchel — in the middle of a disastrous shoot for a Vietnam War epic who are dropped into the jungle to amp up the authenticity, but end up in the middle of a real-life conflict.

"Tropic Thunder" drew accusations that it was racist before anybody even saw the movie (because of Robert Downey Jr.'s character) and, once everybody got around to actually watching the movie, it drew fire for making fun of the mentally handicap (a recurring gag in the movie).

I would never tell anyone that they shouldn't be offended, because I'm fortunate enough to not have anyone close to me suffering from a mental disability. However, I think it's important to note that the movie is CLEARLY mocking self-involved actors who go to physical extremes for their roles and the fact that certain roles are more likely to get you nominated for an Oscar, and not African-Americans or the mentally challenged, respectively. I mean, in my opinion, dyeing your skin is only slightly more ridiculous and unhealthy than gaining or losing 70 lbs for a role.

Stiller stars as Tugg Speedman, the latest in the actor's long resume of overly-cocky dimbulb characters. Speedman is an action looking for a comeback after a failed bid for dramatic credibility ("Simple Jack"). While Stiller is good here — closer to "Zoolander," and not as obnoxious as in "Dodgeball" — what really impressed me were his skills as a director. Sure, sometimes scenes come to a halt while his actors show off their improv skills, but for the most part he keeps the movie going and actually makes the film look like a credible action flick (which is important).

The terrific year for Robert Downey Jr. continues as he pretty much steals the show as 5-time Oscar-winning actor Kirk Lazarus, who's had his skin dyed to play the platoon's black sergeant. Downey is hilarious (though a little incomprehensible at times with his jive talking) as an actor who stays in character no matter what. The part where he, while still playing the black character, disguises himself as an Asian nearly made my head explode. Meanwhile, Jack Black is good for a few laughs as Jeff Portnoy, star of the Nutty Professor-like "Fatty" films. I wish they'd played more with the "comic actor trying to be dramatic" angle (I like his soldier character's "serious" voice) instead of the "drug addict aching for a fix" thing which was occasionally funny, but mostly repetitive.

I was actually a little more impressed with Jackson as rapper Alpa Chino (I didn't get it until I heard it out loud), who clashes with Lazarus, and with Jay Baruchel, as a shy up-and-coming actor and the only person in the cast who seems to have a clue — each have potential to do some good things down the line. I also think young actor Brandon Soo Hoo is a find, in case anybody else ever decides to cast a good Asian child actor in a non-martial arts movie again.

I also enjoyed Steve Coogan as overburdened director Damien Cockburn (see the level of some of the humor here?), and Danny McBride as an overzealous explosives expert (I'm sorry his explosion in "Driving Miss Daisy" was not used), but the big story is the not-so-surprise appearance of Tom Cruise as Les Grossman, a bald, profane and hairy studio exec.

I think it's a brilliant part for Cruise to play, and he does so very well (though I'm not sure about the dancing). Then again, I wasn't one of those people who started hating Tom Cruise a few years ago, so I'm not exactly seeing it as this big career-saving thing like a lot of other people. Also, I kind of enjoyed Nick Nolte more, as the eccentric author of the book the fake movie is based on, because I couldn't tell if he was acting most of the time.

As you can probably tell, this movie is packed with stars and I haven't even gotten around to all the other cameos I'll try not to spoil for you. The problem is that, with all this going on, the movie feels overstuffed at times. For example, I didn't really care for Matthew McConaughey's character (originally to be played by Owen Wilson) and could easily have seen his role end up on the deleted scenes in the DVD. There are also a LOT of jokes and, inevitably, not all of them hit the mark.

In the end though, I'm a sucker for silly movies-within-movies and fake trailers (Tobey Maguire gives his best performance his in this flick — I mean that) and "Tropic Thunder" has plenty of that.

More importantly, the movie mostly does a fine job of utilizing its talented cast and delivering the funny in both a smart and dumb way.

Tropic Thunder...B+