The first twenty minutes of this movie I laughed almost non-stop. Ben Stiller et al have made a really funny satire about a very easy target: actors. Downey comes-off the best, nailing the smug confusion of his method actor character perfectly. His “full retard” scene with Stiller is outrageously funny, and so true it may hit certain actors too close to home. Tom Cruise also fares well, even though I wonder, is it funny? Or is it funny just because it’s Cruise? It’s really so strong because it prioritizes the joke over everything else, especially political correctness. It commits to the bit. My gratitude for that commitment alone was worth the price of admission.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Tropic Thunder
The first twenty minutes of this movie I laughed almost non-stop. Ben Stiller et al have made a really funny satire about a very easy target: actors. Downey comes-off the best, nailing the smug confusion of his method actor character perfectly. His “full retard” scene with Stiller is outrageously funny, and so true it may hit certain actors too close to home. Tom Cruise also fares well, even though I wonder, is it funny? Or is it funny just because it’s Cruise? It’s really so strong because it prioritizes the joke over everything else, especially political correctness. It commits to the bit. My gratitude for that commitment alone was worth the price of admission.
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The movie starts off very funny and then loses a bit of its overall story-steam. Very funny scenes pop up throughout the movie, yet things get boring because the whole thing is never really more than a parody -- there's nothing remotely real about the story or characters. Downey is absolutely fantastic; the other actors never anything more than a foil for his abilities. Best as a DVD or Tivo-ed where the annoying POW scenes can be FF-ed through and the bits with Downey enjoyed.
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