Thunder Skewers Hollywood

It’s not often that we see an industry submit itself to the hack vulgarity of examined self recrimination and blue collar guffaws. For example, we’ll never see Detroit point out, with reserved chuckles, how isolated they are from reality and how many years it’s going to take for them to get their pants back up from around their ankles. We’ll never be privy to a journalistic Q & A with a Wall Street mogul who’ll describe, with coy embarrassment the disgusting greed that powers their business. This comic honesty is the charm of the Hollywood-centric “Tropic Thunder”.

While shooting a Vietnam era war film, the director, who has his professional neck and other parts of his anatomy on the line, becomes convinced that the only way to get the best from his crew of bratty thespians is to drop them in the middle of the jungle where they will be forced to face reality. Through a series of mishaps the actors become entangled in a real-life struggle with a gang of Asian drug runners. Of course high-jinks ensue - that’s what happens when there’s mishaps. And, while the high-jinks are regular movie stuff there’s enough here to keep you laughing as you watch the skewering of almost all the typecast “types” that we know and love.

The lampooning of Hollywood begins before the film starts and it doesn’t end until the end with what is the best cameo of the year by Tom Cruise. As stellar as this Cruise bit is it is outdone by the whining, drug-binging, narcissistic, pseudo-philosophic actors Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) and Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) who have become caricatures of themselves in the illusory maze of Hollywoodland.

“Tropic Thunder” is funny and if I critique anything too harshly it’s the third act of the film where the plot bogs down becoming entangled in it’s own story. It’s at this point where the protagonist’s must begin to redeem themselves so that we’ll cheer them in the end. This is handled in much the same manner as many Hollywood films and it becomes just another Talladega Nights. But, it does redeem itself and pull out of a complete nosedive to give us more Hollywood hosing right at the end.

Not a recommend for a full-price night viewing, but this is a good ride to catch on a hot afternoon.