Tropic Thunder

UK Release: 19th September 2008

Watched on DVD: Sunday 11th March 2012

Rating: 15

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy

Runtime: 1hr 47mins

Tagline: The movie they think they're making... isn't a movie anymore.

IMDb Plot Synopsis: A film crew is in Southeast Asia filming a Vietnam-war memoir. It's early in the shooting, but they're already behind schedule and over budget. On the day an accident befalls the novice director, the cast and crew are attacked by a gang of poppy-growing local drug dealers, except the cast and crew don't realize these aren't actors who are stalking them. The thugs kidnap Tugg Speedman, an actor whose star seems on the decline, and it's up to the rest of the ragtag team to band together long enough to attempt his rescue. But will Tugg want to leave?

My Review: To be honest I wasn’t expecting much from this film as Ben Stiller films don’t always have the greatest of depths. However somehow this film managed to grab hold onto this interesting concept and really make it work. It fell apart a bit in the third act but it was a very funny film and so the jokes just about plastered over the cracks. 

One of the reasons I was interested in watching this film was how postmodern it is. I’m not usually one for an action war film with not a woman in sight, but the clever film within a film with a twist kept me watching. 

Acting wise Robert Downey Jr was good; he played a black man which I thought was either genius or ridiculous. And the trailers at the beginning where the perfect set up into this hyperreal world. Essentially the plot manufactured some reasonably strong jokes and whipped them out whenever things began to flag. It’s also one of the most quotable films I’ve seen in a while, the premise good and hilarious - just a bit too long and man-ish for to be, in my opinion, a proper great film. 

Score: 7.5/10