No one denies that Ben Stiller is already one of the legends of current comedy. Through good faith, patience, and a lot of effort, he has achieved what many comedians try to achieve with each of their films: to make his face synonymous with a few laughs. Just as Jim Carrey once did in his early days, Stiller has become a reference in movie theaters, and his mere name inevitably draws audiences to see his films.
He has achieved this with films directed by himself, films shot with friends, tons of cameos, and very ambitious productions in which he has shared the biggest paycheck with other renowned actors. Tropic Thunder is one of those films that hides more than meets the eye.
What’s it about?
The story begins as simple as that: a group of established actors decide to get together to shoot the most ambitious and realistic war film in history. They have a decent budget and the talents of the most fashionable actors: the action movie actor (a typical Stallone played by Stiller), the award-winning drama actor (Robert Downey Jr.), and the comic of nonsensical films (Jack Black, as Jack Black, I’d say). Together, with a debuting director who expects to achieve fame with this project, they attempt to shoot this ambitious film. But soon after starting, they encounter several problems.
The biggest: the huge ego of their protagonist, the hunk played by Stiller. He can’t act, nor can he manage to get involved in the most dramatic scenes. Things take a turn for the worse when the director, encouraged by the advice of the ex-military man on whom the story is based, decides to take his boys into the middle of the jungle to film live. That’s when the film’s story begins to come true, and the moment when the actors become men.
The Movie
Throughout the film, in addition to peppering the audience with quite bizarre and original sequences, Tropic Thunder parodies the actors’ lives with great irony and a certain realism. The script’s lines leave no stone unturned and speak frankly, without mincing words. It also allows us a glimpse into the crude world of production companies, with a shareholder who will leave the audience speechless, partly due to the excellent and zany characterization given by a fat, bald, and obscene Tom Cruise. The humor we find is often bizarre and senseless (as the best Stiller has accustomed us to), but as we say, it also contains doses of reality (perhaps, yes, a little exaggerated).
The cast
The transformation that the main actors have undergone for the filming of the movie is commendable. Stiller abandons the comic persona he’s accustomed to in order to play a headless hunk. Downey Jr. makes an almost inverse leap, going from a versatile actor to a dramatic performer who all the culture vultures would follow. Furthermore, to make matters worse, his character undergoes skin surgery in order to play the black soldier in the film (or at least the highest-ranking one).
In the end, Black is the one who changes the least, dyeing his hair blond and greatly exaggerating his role (with the occasional dig at actors of his genre). Finally, Tom Cruise surprises us and makes us think he could bring high-quality comedies to life if he decided to change his scene and leave the action for another time.
Conclusion
From the first minute of the film, in which we are dazzled by three very funny fake trailers (one in which Iron Man and original Spider-Man hook up with, well, their actors, Tobey Maguire and Robert Downey Jr.), it is clear that although it is bizarre and senseless, Tropic Thunder wants something more. This is something that some people will appreciate, while others will simply burst out laughing at the jokes, parodies and homages (of which there are many) that Stiller and company carry out throughout the film.
