‘Tropic Thunder’ knocks Batman from its roost

16 years ago
For Your Enjoyment
By Troy Haines
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    Over the weekend, the new powerhouse comedy “Tropic Thunder” took the number-one earning spot away from “The Dark Knight,” which was in its fifth weekend, earning $26 million to Batman’s $16.8.

The movie opened amidst some controversy, and its premier was even picketed. The controversy stems from the repeated use of the “R” word, which advocates for individuals with mental disabilities found offensive.
    This movie, which is about a group of actors attempting to make an unwieldy Vietnam War epic, showcases an ensemble cast playing characters that lampoon certain Hollywood stereotypes. It is Ben Stiller’s character, “Tugg Speedman,” who is chasing an Academy Award by playing an adult with mental retardation, which is the source for the displeasure on the part of organizations such as the American Association of People with Disabilities.
    Robert Downey Junior turns in a excellent performance as “Kirk Lazarus”, an Australian five-time Oscar winner who takes his method acting so far as to have his skin surgically darkened in order to play the film’s black sergeant. Ironically, this drew little to no protest.
    The most common reasoning for this on the part of industry insiders was that it was satirical, and not the same as when white actors used to portray blacks in makeup which was called “black face” (for a great look into the cultural phenomenon that was black face see Spike Lees amazing movie “Bamboozled”).
    It was Downey Jr.’s character who most liberally used the “R” word in the film, and when asked to comment about the protests, he replied that he absolutely respected the protesters’ constitutional right to protest, and would hope that they would in turn respect his right to say whatever he wished in a movie.
    One of what turned out to be two big surprises for me in the movie was that it really wasn’t that funny. I went into it having heard and read many reviews calling it absolutely hilarious, and in my opinion this wasn’t the case. I chuckled quite a bit, and laughed out loud only twice, but all in all it wasn’t that funny. It was also a little slow and boring during the first half.
    The other big surprise of this movie for me was just how gruesome it was. It was bloody enough to put the “Saw” movies to shame, and this came as a surprise to me as I saw nothing at all in the trailers which would indicate that this would be the case.
    Downey Jr. was great, both Stiller and Mathew McConaughey were good, and Jack Black was actually pretty funny (although I wonder if he knew that the type of actor his character was making fun of is the type of actors that he is), but the real standout for me was Jay Baruchel, who I had only previously seen in “Knocked Up”. He is an actor who I think we will see a lot of. Oh, and Nick Nolte was just as wonderfully creepy as he always is.
    The movie started slow, but finished strong on the basis of its look into the skewed values that Hollywood represents, and it is definitely worth seeing. Just be forewarned that you may find parts of it offensive, gross or perhaps just not that funny.
Grade: B