Tropic Thunder is ruthless, godless genius
The trailers for the new Ben Stiller comedy Tropic Thunder, which opens today nationwide, didn’t promise much: Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr. (in appallingly bad blackface) muddling around in the jungle filming a war movie. I had a hard time finding anyone who would even agree to go to the screening with me.
Turns out it’s their loss. Trading on risky, raw humor, Stiller has created a genuine comic masterpiece.
The film, which follows a group of prissy, dysfunctional, mismatched actors as they attempt to make a Full Metal Jacket-style ‘Nam saga in a hostile jungle, is basically a platform to lampoon the egotism, greed, self-desecration and compulsive manipulation that feeds the Hollywood machine. There is no aspect of Tinseltown’s disgrace that goes unmolested in Tropic Thunder – and the results are gut-bustingly funny.
Stiller’s character, Tugg Speedman, is a washed-up action star looking to resurrect his career by starring in a violent war drama. When the novice director of the film (played by Steve Coogan) starts to go over budget, he gets desperate to wrap filming quickly. On the advice of “Four Leaf,” the ‘Nam vet who wrote the book the film is based on (played with grizzled gnarliness by Nick Nolte), the cast is airlifted into the middle of a Vietnamese jungle with the idea that they will be filmed as they try to fight their way out. For drug-addled comedy star Jeff Portnoy (Black), pompous “Actor’s Studio” alumni Kirk Lazarus (Downey, Jr.), newbie Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel) and rap star Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), as well as the overly-enthusiastic, utterly clueless Tugg Speedman, the experience turns into a fight for survival as they encounter the natural challenges of the wilds along with a vicious Vietnamese heroin cartel.
The film, which boasts a bevy of over-the-top, star-studded cameos (I assure you, it’ll take you a long, long time to get over Tom Cruise’s surprise turn), is anchored by the most palpable ensemble cast chemistry seen on film since M.A.S.H. You know you’ve got something special when Robert Downey, Jr. (one of the finest actors of his generation) is the weakest link. This is superb stuff, and a much-deserved score for the hardworking Stiller who directed and co-wrote (with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen).
By now, you’ve probably heard of the uproar over Stiller’s portrayal of “Simple Jack,” a developmentally-challenged, Sling Blade-esque child-man that Speedman plays in an earlier attempt to break free of his action hero personae. Groups like the Special Olympics and the American Association of People with Disabilities are picketing Tropic Thunder over the character and the film’s gratuitous use of the word “retard.” But, as San Francisco Chronicle Pop Culture Critic, Peter Hartlaub pointed out in his review of the film, “If anything, it seems as if they should be protesting Forrest Gump.” Simple Jack is basically an excuse (a sickeningly hilarious one) to make fun of actors who go after roles that portray the mentally handicapped in hopes of scoring Oscar gold (Rain Man, I Am Sam). Yes, the character is an insensitive stereotype. But if you’re looking for safe, family-friendly comedy – don’t look here. Frankly, it just seems that the AAPD got to this film before the NAACP, the VVA and the JDL had a chance to. There’s something to offend every sensibility here but, contrary to films that are offensive for the sole purpose of shocking the audience, Tropic Thunder keeps a tight focus on its intended (and deserving) victim: Hollywood. In an entertainment culture where nothing is sacred, this film tears off the rose-tinted glasses and grinds them into the dirt.
Those of a more delicate persuasion may want to stick to 27 Dresses or Kung Fu Panda. But if you have the kind of constitution that can tolerate Robert Downey, Jr. muttering the theme from The Jeffersons in an afro wig (it’s funnier than it sounds), Tropic Thunder is savage comedy gold.
Wendy Case is the MOLI View's contributing editor for Arts & Entertainment.
