The rat pack of dumb American comedies is back, and they're all having a lot of fun. Which means this is a delight to watch. Some of these movies work better than others (I didn't love 'Zoolander'), but more often than not they deliver both piles of laughs and an engaging story.
Ben stiller seems to have put this whole thing together, and the majority of the film features him, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black, Brandon T. Jackson, and Jay Baruchel tramping around the jungles of Vietnam and maybe Cambodia later on. They're all playing actors who are playing soldiers who are fighting in the Vietnam war, and this play within a play aspect creates a fair amount of comedy all on it's own. An added difficulty is that many of the actors have serious problems with self esteem, and knowing who they are. As Lazarus says at one point "I'm a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude". That's actually the truth outside of the movie that we're watching, but it's difficult to notice at the time.
It's a funny movie all the way through, though the first half is better (as usual), as in the second the plot is burdened with having to support the usual Hollywood "everyone lives happily ever after" conclusion. Many of the scenes are based around a single joke, with a little character and plot development thrown in. I like that in a movie like this, as we don't really have to worry too much. I particularly liked the bit where a bat randomly steals Jeff's heroin and eats it, and he totally freaks out until it drops out of the air and he shouts "aha! You've OD'd! Now you're dead!" as he jumps on the bat and starts eating it alive.
All the characters are pretty great. The fake veteran, the English director, the explosives "expert", the cable obsessed agent, and the producer. Tom Cruise is particularly funny as Les Grossman. You often can't tell it's him, as he's wearing a bald cap and has a huge amount of hair on his arms. The final scene during the credits of him dancing is hilarious.
With a great cast, funny characters, a dumb but engaging plot, and piles of inside jokes, 'Tropic Thunder' makes for very enjoyable viewing.
Tropic Thunder: 64.0