Originally published August 12, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified August 12, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Movie review
"Tropic Thunder": too much promise, not enough delivery
Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black and Ben Stiller star in the uneven but often funny comedy "Tropic Thunder," about a band of egotistical actors making a war movie.
Seattle Times movie critic
"Tropic Thunder," with Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Steve Coogan, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Brandon T. Jackson, Bill Hader, Nick Nolte. Directed by Stiller, from a screenplay by Justin Theroux, Stiller and Etan Cohen. 107 minutes. Rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material. Several theaters.
It's mid-August, the summer movie season is waning, and audiences numbed by their 10th viewing of "The Dark Knight" are ready to laugh. So the sporadically funny "Tropic Thunder," directed by and starring Ben Stiller, may well get a boost it doesn't entirely earn. (I can see the quotes on the ads now: "Not At All The Worst Comedy To Come Out This Summer!")
The film is a movie-within-a-movie comedy about a group of spoiled actors making a wildly over-budget war movie — five days into shooting, they're a month behind schedule. Sent into the jungles of Southeast Asia to find some motivation, they become unintentionally entangled in real-life peril at the hands of drug lords.
Because these actors are played by Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., along with talented new faces Jay Baruchel and Brandon T. Jackson, expectations are high. Downey, in particular, is the sort of off-the-wall actor who never gives the same performance twice, and whose presence lifts any movie into more rarefied territory. (Watch how he stole "Lucky You" last year with a two-minute cameo.) It's fun to watch these guys bounce off each other, and fascinating to watch Downey's commitment to a role that few would take on: Kirk Lazarus, an Australian actor so egotistic he undergoes surgery to have his skin darkened so that he can play a black Vietnam War hero.
Lazarus (we see him, briefly and hilariously, in his former skin blathering earnestly about acting on an "Inside the Actor's Studio"-ish show) never lets his character go, and even after it's long clear that the cameras aren't rolling, he's still bellowing out his performance to the skies. "I don't drop character until the DVD commentary's done," he says. Jackson's Alpa Chino (he's a big fan of "Scarface") becomes increasingly irritated with Lazarus' racial posturings, and their spats are the movie's best moments; making it less a story of blackface than of an actor blinded by the vapor of his own perceived brilliance. Luckily, Chino finds that Lazarus has a weak spot: He can't stand anyone making fun of "Crocodile Dundee."
This is funny stuff, as is Tom Cruise's extended (and almost unrecognizable) cameo as a barking, dancing Hollywood studio head. But Stiller, who also co-wrote the film with two other writers, can't keep the wit consistent. A long riff on actors playing developmentally disabled characters has the grain of a good idea in it — the extent to which actors will go with a "Rain Man"/"Forrest Gump" Oscar-bait role — but gets dragged out too long and becomes unnecessarily uncomfortable. Likewise, the movie itself wears out long before its final scenes. Cruise's gleeful booty-shaking over the end credits goes a long way toward mitigating disappointment, but "Tropic Thunder" is too much promise and not enough delivery.
Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
At a Theater Near You: Polish, Italian festivals lead weekend's films
Movie review: Bella + Edward + Jacob = a pale 'New Moon'
Group decries saturated fat in movie popcorn
Movie review: 'Planet 51': High on sci-fi, low on laughs
Movie review: 'The Blind Side' — A football movie too sweet to score

LA Galaxy's David Beckham
Los Angeles Galaxy's David Beckham talks about the upcoming MLS Cup final during after a team practice.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- Monfort fired after excellent worker turned unreliable
- Sentence request for US woman in Italy murder case
- 31 years for man who killed girlfriend, then lit cigarette and waited for police
- Boeing facility death was suicide
- Mariners Blog | A Mariners-Tigers swap makes a whole lot of sense for both teams
- Swedish threatens to end Regence BlueShield's contract
- Man falls 8 stories, suffers minor injuries
- Man shot in chest on E. Union Street in Capitol Hill
- Italian lead prosecutor argues Knox motive was hatred
- Mariners Blog | Dustin Ackley to move to second base; Mariners add six to 40-man roster
- First key vote today on Senate health bill
164 - Mariners add six to 40-man roster
104 - Boeing breaks ground for historic SC plant
97 - Lynnwood is reinventing itself — again
79 - Man shot in Capitol Hill
71 - Senate vote clears hurdle
69 - Italian lead prosecutor argues Knox motive was hatred
67 - Bye week answers, volume four
46 - Case of accused "Street Mobb" pimp goes to jury
45 - Saturday links
45
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Swedish threatens to end Regence BlueShield's contract
- Recipes: Sesame Pork Roast, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce and more
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Nonprofits get creative using Twitter and Facebook to make donation easier
- Restaurant review | Artisanal at The Bravern shows French flair in delicious style
- Peruvian police: Gang killed people for their fat
- Seattle industrial artist Rusty Oliver is the man behind 'Smash Putt'
- Great places to cross-country ski for free (or almost) in the Methow
- $335 million in education grants








