tropic thunder review
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Tropic Thunder doesn’t get the credit it deserves. It’s loud and dumb but also whip smart – quite the juggling act. It benefits from being directed and produced by Hollywood royalty/movie industry veteran Ben Stiller. Stiller’s track record, gravitas and respect in Hollywood circles afford the film the luxury and free reign to provide credible commentary on how and why movies even get made. It exists on a unique meta Tropic Thunder-y plane of existence that isn’t matched by any other film I am aware of. While on the surface a simple spoof of action blockbusters like Apocalypse Now and Saving Private Ryan, Stiller takes surprisingly thoughtful and piercing aim at Hollywood, sending up creatively-bankrupt-yet-uber-profitable Sandler/Murphy/Carrey-type movie franchises, gratuitous product placement, drug addiction, Oscar bait films, actors who pursue Oscar-bait roles and unscrupulous movie producers. And it has Robert Downey, Jr. in blackface. For contextual reasons I should note that I am an African-American and I wasn’t offended by seeing the eventual Iron Man in blackface. As I sit here in 2020 (still not offended btw), I wonder how they were able to do it and not cause a ruckus. Could this film be made in 2020? Were times that different 12 years ago? Why did RDJR get nominated for an Academy Award? He was fine but I didn’t see any performances in this film that deserved Oscar nominations. And I LOVE the movie.
Tropic Thunder gets a 8 out of 10 for general audiences and a 10/10 for those fake trailers. I can’t lie, I would totally go and see Scorcher (all of them) if it was real. I guess that makes me part of the problem.