Tropic Thunder is the Movie of the Summer

Tonight I was able to catch an “advanced showing” of Tropic Thunder. I’m going to preface this by saying that while I think Robert Downey Jr. is one of the best actors working in the business I don’t really care much for Ben Stiller and Jack Black. Though for some reason I have been very excited about this film for a long time. After seeing the film, I now have a new appreciation for Ben Stiller.

Tropic Thunder opens August 15th, but I saw it tonight. Ha!

Tropic Thunder, in case you don’t know, is a film about a group of actors making a Vietnam war movie based on a Vietnam war book. The director, feeling pressure from the studio, decided to rig up cameras in the jungle and drop the actors in it — to get a realistic effect. Instead, the actors find themselves in a very real fight (not to sound corny) for their survival. I don’t want to give away too many plot points because, well, the movie is worth seeing and I don’t want to spoil it at all.

As I said above, Robert Downey Jr. is one of the best actors in Hollywood. In this movie he’s “a dude playing a dude playing another dude” in that he’s playing Australian Kirk Lazarus who’s playing the part of Sgt. Osiris. The catch is that blonde hair, blue eyed Lazarus undergoes a “controversial skin pigmentation treatment” to literally become the African American Osiris. This results in a tour de hilarity that I haven’t seen in a very long time. Downey Jr.’s character never breaks character (follow that?) and really steals the entire show.

The one thing I have never liked much about Ben Stiller is that he is pretty much the same character in all of his movies. That’s not to say he isn’t funny, but he’s pretty much the same guy. In Tropic Thunder Stiller plays washed up action star Tugg Speedman, the leader of the rag-tag group of soldiers actor and for the first time I didn’t see Greg Focker. Interestingly enough Stiller also produced, directed, and wrote the film. So yeah, new light for Ben Stiller.

The movie is pretty much non-stop laughs mixed with a nice amount of “holy crap did they just do that!?” moments which well earn the films ‘R’ raiting. There are also a few surprising co-stars that are just as hilarious as the stars. I don’t want to give anything away, but look for great performances by Matthew McConaughey, Tobey Maguire and Tom freaking Cruise (who, like Downey Jr. is also one of the best actors out there despite him being absolutely crazy).

I would highly recommend Tropic Thunder once it comes out August 15th. Hell, I might even go see it again. I’d say it was even better than The Dark Knight It was that good.