Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder – Parodying Hollywood at It’s Best and Its Worst

Funny man Ben Stiller directed, starred in, and co-wrote the parody Tropic Thunder. I saw the funny film one night at the late showing in the theater and was thoroughly entertained. The script is clever and parodies the fickleness of Hollywood. It caricatures certain actors like Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks and it does a hilariously warped depiction of Rob Reiner. The story revolves around a celebrity B-film actor (Ben Stiller) whose star is fading fast and is desperately in need of a hit movie. Matthew McConaughey plays Stiller’s agent, and the other characters featured are Robert Downey, Jr., who undergoes a radical procedure to play the part of a black man. He forgets he’s playing a role and starts to believe it is his reality. Other actors include Nick Nolte, Jack Black, Toby McGuire and even Tyra Banks—the last 2 play themselves.

When Stiller’s character is starring in a ridiculously high budget film and the director is unable to finish it, without the aid if the production company, the entire cast and crew decide to go to Southeast Asia and attempt to finish it themselves guerrilla-style. After surviving a series of tragic mishaps, the film ultimately is a bust. The cast and crew dodges a plethora of bullets, grenades, and land mines from the bad guys. Worst for wear, the cast returns to the states and ironically receives the accolades they were so desperately seeking.

Tropic Thunder is hilarious and outrageous. You will sit on the edge of your seat because the action is over the top, and the plot takes you through a series of twists and turns. I enjoyed this movie in spite of my preconceived notions that this would be a silly spoof. While it’s still in theaters, I would recommend going to see Tropic Thunder. It needs to be enjoyed on the big screen. Oh yeah, and like most of Ben’s films, the physical comedy is Stiller!

-Staff Writer-