| TROPIC THUNDER (2007) : B.Stiller : 7/10 : review online, MON.22.SEP. |
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 Seven years after poking fun at the solipsistic venality and vanity of the fashion world in general and overpaid male models in particular with Zoolander, Ben Stiller returns to directing with Tropic Thunder - poking fun at the solipsistic venality and vanity of Hollywood in general, and overpaid male actors in particular. Though he's clearly not going to win many awards for the inventive audacity of his targets, Stiller has, during his spell away from the director's chair, clearly sharpened his wit to an impressive degree: executed with persuasive gusto, this is very probably the funniest Hollywood comedy of the summer, perhaps even of the whole year. Admittedly, that isn't sky-high praise in an era where Judd Apatow is being hailed as a modern-day Preston Sturges, but in terms of sheer laughs-per-minute Tropic Thunder proves pretty solid value - especially as it manages to maintain momentum for the best part of two hours. It hits the ground sprinting, the opening minutes providing a level of concentrated hilarity which is only intermittently regained over subsequent reels (watch out for the inspired 'marauding panda' sequence.) Adverts and trailers - skilfully faked by Ignition Creative - introduce the main dramatis personae: over-the-hill action star Tugg Speedman (Stiller); roly-poly Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), king of scatological slapstick; booty-chasing rapper 'Alpa Chino' (Brandon T. Jackson) and multi-Oscar winning Australian method-actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) They're brought together for big-budget Vietnam epic Tropic Thunder, to be shot on location in Indochina under the jittery direction of Brit greenhorn Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) - 'advised' by the grizzled veteran (Nick Nolte) upon whose best-selling memoir the movie-within-the-movie is based. A series of mishaps leave the four leads - plus youthful colleague Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel) - wandering in deep jungle, deludedly believing that Damien is filming their every move, dogme-style via hidden cameras. The truth is rather more dangerous, as they discover when they stumble across a heavily-armed drug-running gang and their remote heroin-factory. Just as 'Tropic Thunder' unites an unlikely quartet catering to distinct demographic 'quadrants', Tropic Thunder is no less calculated to satisfy a wide spectrum of moviegoers. There are insider jokes, Vietnam-pic spoofs (in particular, Apocalypse Now and its famously troubled shoot) and star cameos aplenty for devotees of Ain't It Cool News and its fan-boy ilk; extravagant pratfall-based gags (mostly involving Black, straining hard with mixed results) for younger viewers, and an array of relatively sophisticated barbs aimed at pretentious, Stanislavsky-worshipping luvvies such as Lazarus - it's no accident that the script is co-written by Ben Stiller and Justin Theroux, the latter also much better known for his work in front of the camera, plus Etan Cohen. Both Stiller and Theroux have obviously witnessed all kinds of diva-like and/or outrageous behaviour on their many sets over the years: Lazarus is the sine qua non of the preening thespian ("I don't read the script - the script reads me!"), hurling himself so intensely into his role - he brags that he never breaks character until he's finished recording the DVD commentary - that he loses sight of his own identity. The fact that for 'Tropic Thunder' he's had his skin temporarily dyed, so as better to play an African-American, pushes him even further into oblivion - with consistently amusing consequences. Downey Jr appears to be having a ball from start to finish and is very much first among equals here, letting rip with jazzy, seemingly improvisational comic riffing that nimbly consolidates his comeback in a rather different (but perhaps ultimately more satisfying) vein from the pneumatic delights of Iron Man. But there's a little more going on here than just a self-deconstructing romp in which a bunch of actors cheekily (but never exactly bitingly) take the mickey out of their own profession. Against the odds, Tropic Thunder actually ends up working pretty well as a suspenseful action-movie - the presence of Nolte (game and surprisingly agile) in front of the camera and cinematographer John Toll behind it (he actually shot Nolte in The Thin Red Line) adding touches of class to the raucously daft shenanigans. Neil Young 22.Sep.08 -------------------------------------------------------------------- USA (US/Ger) 107m (BBFC timing) director : Ben Stiller (Zoolander, The Cable Guy, Reality Bites.) editor : Greg Hayden (Bill, The Pleasure of Your Company aka Wedding Daze, Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason, etc - incl. Zoolander, Meet the Parents) seen 17.Sep.08 Sunderland (CineWorld cinema : press show) |
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