SCHOOL OF FILM & ACTING

Tropic Thunder

Ben Stiller typically only plays three roles in his comedic films. He’s either an insanely uptight average lovelorn male (There’s Something About Mary, Along Came Polly);the intensely brooding egotistical villain (Dodge ball, Happy Gilmore); or an intensely brooding egotistical yet well-meaning dummy (Zoo lander). It’s this latter role he slips into for Tropic Thunder, but rather than suffocate us with one character’s parade of stupidity, under his own direction, Stiller uses his character’s shortcomings as a device to set the plot of one of the best comedies in years into motion.

Tropic Thunder is the tale of a Hollywood war movie gone so over budget with a cast so out of control in the early stages of production that the director (Steve Coogan) has no choice but to resort to drastic measures to get it on track again. In order to deal with the massive egos of a comedy superstar (Jack Black), an Oscar-winning method actor (Robert Downey Jr.), and a past his prime action hero (Stiller), that are hindering his production and a lack of confidence from the studio head (masterfully played by Tom Cruise), the director takes the advice of the films on set war hero (Nick Nolte) and takes his actors off the comfort of the set and into the thick of the war zone to complete his Vietnam masterpiece.

He sets up cameras and with the help of the Danny McBride’s pyrotechnic specialist rigs the jungle for battle. Unfortunately the director fails to foresee the danger of landmines, in a hilarious sequence, and the actors with script in hand are left to fend for themselves. While the cast treks through the jungle in the hopes they can make it out alive and rescue Stiller’s character, whom despite his poor sense of direction and refusal to attend the pre-film boot camp, thinks he can successfully finish all of his parts and navigate the jungle if he goes off on his own. The rest of the cast’s time in the jungle is marked by often uproariously funny arguments as to Downey Jr’s dedication to his craft, as well as typical war film soldier talk, like if the men have a girl back home that’s waiting on them.

Besides the generally side-splitting nature of most of the dialogue, the film’s biggest accomplishment is achieving what the doomed war film within the movie cannot achieve, and that’s a balance between all of the main talents. While Downey Jr. in black face more or less steals the show, Jay Baruchel and Brandon T. Jackson do more than admirable jobs as the straight man glue that holds this picture together. After all if you had the drug addled funnyman (Jack Black), the method acting expert, and the egotistical action hero (Stiller) parading around the jungle in three different directions, this film would go nowhere.

Tropic Thunder is chock full of pleasant surprises. Whether it’s Matthew McConaughey’s turn as a Tivo obsessed agent, or Tom Cruise’s ability to actually prove that he has a sense of humor…and a pretty decent one at that…there aren’t many misses in this sure-fire new comedy classic. In a summer season that’s been quite a delight already, Tropic Thunder is yet another victory for filmmakers and film goers alike.

This blog is published by The film school & Acting School at the New York Film Academy. Visit our website to learn more about our exciting curriculum!