Tropic Thunder has been out for a while in the States now, and opened here last week. By now most people will have seen it, but that still doesn’t mean that I’m going to spoil what I feel is the high point of the movie: an unpublicised role for one of today’s leading actors. The cat’s been out of the bag for a while, long before the movie came out, but the role is hilarious, and really should serve to rejuvenate this actor’s popularity. He literally had me doubled over in tears of laughter at one stage.
So how’s the rest of the film? Excellent. This is the stuff that Ben Stiller is made for. His schtick in films like the Focker movies and the Heartbreak Kid is really quite annoying, and done better by others – although it’s a formula I have no taste for anyway. When Stiller turns his hand to satire, he is razor sharp and merciless, and the result is brilliant. It’s no coincidence that Tropic Thunder, which skewers Stiller’s own entertainment industry, is the best work that he has done in years – since Zoolander definitely, and possibly the best thing he’s done, period.
Robert Downey Jr is having a good year, with Iron Man and now this film – I can’t comment on Charlie Bartlett, having not seen it. He’s hilarious, and it’s ironic that in order to parody a talented actor, he brings his own considerable acting talent to bear – just another reason why the film works so well.
The rest of the cast do well, but for me Downey and the unnamed actor really set the pace, and with something of an ensemble cast, they can’t all have that much to do.
Overall I rate this film eight Snifters out of ten. If all of Ben Stillers work (acting and directing) is going to be like this, then I might suddenly consider myself a fan.
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