the blizzog @ the movies: Tropic Thunder

I got home from work today and AG informed me that we were having an impromptu Date Night. Good times. This is the first night all week that I have felt even halfway normal after this fun night and three subsequent days of feeling like crap after picking up some bug in Blowing Rock over the weekend.

After dinner we went to go see Tropic Thunder. I’ve been wanting to see this since it came out last week; partly because of the controversy it is brewing up but mostly because I wanted to see Robert Downey Jr’s performance.

Tropic Thunder didn’t disappoint. It wasn’t the greatest thing I’ve ever seen, but it was super funny in parts and didn’t really drag. That’s all you can ask for. I’d give it a solid 3 stars out of 4.

If you’ve followed Ben Stiller’s career from it’s earlier days - like the short-lived, but awesome “The Ben Stiller Show” - you know that he’s capable of doing some great parody, and all those skills were on full display in this film. Stiller and fellow writers Justin Theroux and Ethan Cohen do a fabulous job of mocking all the typical Hollywood steroptypes: endless sequels, stupid fart-joke movies, and yes, actors who take on roles as mentally challenged people in hopes of winning awards.

I didn’t see what all the controversy was about with Stiller’s “Simple Jack” character, honestly. If I were the type that gets offended, I think I’d have been much more offended by a character like “Have you seen my baseball?” Warren from There’s Something About Mary… if it wasn’t so hilarious.

Robert Downey Jr. is fabulous as the 5-time Oscar Award winning Australian actor who had his skin pigmented so he could play a black guy in the film. I’ve heard Stiller say a few times that in order to pull this character off without coming across as a cheap stereotype you needed someone with RDJ’s acting chops.

After seeing the film I couldn’t agree more. His character is hilarious, but not in a clownish, cheap way. Downey plays it right up to the edge in a pitch-perfect performance, and Brandon T. Jackson provides the proper balance to the absurdities of Downey’s character as rapper-turned-actor-turned-mogul Alpa Chino.

I can’t finish my review without giving my grudging respect to Tom Cruise’s cameo as a power-mad movie producer. He’s pretty funny in this, though it would’ve been funnier if he could get over the whole “I’m Tom Cruise Playing Some Other Guy” thing he does in pretty much every movie. That said, the role is pretty out of the box for him and you gotta give him credit for going for it. It makes you forget the Creepy Scientology Guy Tom Cruise for a few moments, and that’s a good thing. I’m still not taking this down.

Overall Tropic Thunder is some good times. You should check it out. Especially if you can go on Date Night.