Absurdity runs amuck. I would have thought the chances of Ben Stiller creating a Academy-Award nominated movie would have been the same as watching Tom Cruise grind to Ludacris. Aside from that, Tropic Thunder remains the only good thing to come out of god-awful Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. Stiller came up with the idea in 1987 on the set of the film. 21 years later, his idea comes to fruition, creating the most absurd and unconventional movie of the year. A gang of pampered film stars run amuck while filming a Vietnam War Memoir adaptation about a POW. Determined to seize back control, the director opts to shoot guerilla style in the middle of a jungle. Unbeknownst to them, a real militant Vietanemese army is nearby and soon they're ironically realistically recreating the scenes the film is adapting.
Bar none, the best part of this film is Robert Downey Jr. He plays an Australian method actor who undergoes skin surgery to play the role of a black sergeant. A play on method actors like Russell Crowe who take their roles too seriously. A beginning montage of the actors other films show Downey's character, Kirk Lazarus, as a priest getting his belt fondled by Toby Maguire. This alone sets the tone for what's it's like to watch Downey's performance. Amazing and creepy. He disappears into the character so much, you no longer see Downey, but the fact that he's playing an actor who disappears into a character makes the performance that much more admirable. He actually says it best. "I know who I am. I'm a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude."
Surprises also run amuck such as Matthew McConaughey as Ben Stiller's manager or Tom Cruise as an over-the-top Hollywood exec. Cruise's role in the film was a well-hidden kept secret.
The worst part about this movie. I hate to say - Jack Black. He plays a comedian who battles his addiction during the shoot. While Downey's and Stiller's humor were found in the characters, Black's was in his conflict and could have been transplanted into any comedy and gotten the same laughs.
Despite it being a comedy, many cultural introspections can be drawn. Many about the film community i.e. jerkwad Hollywood executives caring more about their profits than their products and how much actors have to loose themselves in a role to pull of a decent performance. Also the issue of black face, ringtone rappers, and homophobia in the African-American community (to be discussed). The most talked about issue is the portrayal of the mentally challenged. Stiller's character (Tugg Speedman) reminisces a time when he played a mentally challenged character by the name of simple jack. Everytime he refers to the character, he calls him retarded - the n'word or f'word to the handicapped community. Many groups spoke out against the film's use of the word although I wouldn't put it past Paramount to have drawn the hoopla up for publicity. Whether they did or didn't, it's safe to say we live in a PC world. Nas tried to put out an album called "Nigger" and was denied by the powers that be. A couple years ago, Isiah Washington was fired from Grey's anatomy for calling a castmate a faggot. Even those these are words, they obviously carry a huge weight if they are able to rally up ney-sayers. But if they can't be used in anger, comedy, or to make a social statement, then when can they be brought up?
THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE:
Downey plays blackface, which would normally be a cause for resentment. However, they were very careful with the protrayal of Kirk Lazarus. Instead of being a buffoon, unintelligent, or lacking self-respect, Downey plays him competently. At times he's the intelligent voice of reason explaining they are in a real jungle and the bloody head he's holding is not a prop. This gets sketchy when it comes to his jive speak, but the creators cover their bases here by having Brandon Lee's character (rapper- Alpa Chino) call him out on it. So even if Downey (or Lazarus, whatever) did play the fool, it would seem more of a social statement ala Bamboozled.
Lee or Alpa Chino plays a flagrant, misogynistic rapper whom shameless promotes his products like an energy drink called "Booty Sweat" and granola bar titled "Bust-A-Nut". His music video/commercial seems to be a farce of Nelly's Tipdrill. But while they show the bad, they also show the good. I remember Nelly on BET's Hip-Hop vs. America discussion, asking why nobody ever brings up all his charitable givings. Likewise Alpa Chino gives millions in charities. Bringing up the point that while many rappers do little to raise the perceptions of the black community, the good deed they do pull of are often forgotten and they tend not to be so socially irresponsible as we claim. Chino is also a closet gay - pinning for a man named Lance who we later find out to be Lance Bass. With the rap communtiy so fixated on representing the utmost masculinity, a closeted gay rapper who hides under lyrics like "I love the pussy" doesn't seem to be to far off.
EXTRAS:
Tropic Thunder garnered two Golden Globes nominations for Robert Downey Jr. & Tom Cruise and an Academy Award nomination for Downey. As a director, it is Stiller's most successful film to date.
RATING:
= 4 Stars
= 4 Black Fists
.jpg)
nice blog chk me out when u can
ReplyDeleterawdawgbuffalo