Take Cover!
Want to be wildly entertained? Want to skate THISCLOSE to the “bad taste” line?
Well, here are three things you can say about this “Cult Movie Monday!”
Ben Stiller As You’ve Never Seen Him Before!
Robert Downey Jr. As You’ve Never Seen Him Before!
Tom Cruise As You’ve Never Seen Him Before!
Wait, that’s Ben Stiller? That’s Robert Downey Jr.? THAT’S TOM CRUISE?!?!?!
Yes, one film has three of the most hilariously offensive performances from three of our favorite Actors….time to celebrate the wildly inappropriate genius of:
Tropic Thunder!
This 2008 film has grown on me every single time I’ve seen it – and I haven’t even mentioned Jack Black, Brandon T. Jackson as “Alpa Chino”, Jay Baruchel, Matthew McConnaughy, Danny McBride, Nick Nolte or Steve Coogan – what a great cast!
This movie is a hilarious send-up of Hollywood – and part of that means they took on a LOT of sacred cows – in wildly inappropriate ways!
The plot is simple: a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.
As someone stated in a review:
“Director / Actor Ben Stiller stuck a white hot poker into the eyes of action movies with this hilarious and action-packed comedy.”
Here is the trailer:
Robert Downey Jr. Plays A Black Character!
When the film was in production, word leaked that Downey was playing a black character…and there was some immediate criticism. But when the film was released, everyone understood the joke!
Robert Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, an Australian METHOD Actor who gets so much into every character he plays that he DYES HIS SKIN in order to play a black action hero!
Downey captures the pompous nature of Hollywood in everything he says and does, such as when he explains how we can act in a movie without reading the script:
“I don’t read the script. The script reads me.”
Ben Stiller both directs the film and stars as fading action star Tugg Speedman – who just wants respect from the acting community, and is fearful of being over-the-hill, as he shares in an emotional interview with Tyra Banks:
Tyra Banks: “You have no real family, you’re on the wrong side of 40, you’re childless and alone. Somebody close to you said: “One more flop, and it’s over.”
Tugg Speedman: [pause] “Somebody said they were close to me?”
I mean, this script is RAZOR SHARP!
Ben Stiller Is “Simple Jack!”
Yes, this is so offensive in so many ways, but so funny!
Stiller hilariously captures the ego of the entertainment business – you see, he’s making this “War movie” because his previous film, “Simple Jack” – an obvious bid for an Academy Award – instead was a huge flop!
Robert Downey Jr. explains why Tugg’s portrayal of the mentally handicapped “Simple Jack” didn’t win him the Oscar he so desperately wanted:
Kirk Lazarus: “Everybody knows you never go full retard.”
Tugg Speedman: “What do you mean?”
Kirk Lazarus: “Check it out. Dustin Hoffman, ‘Rain Man,’ look retarded, act retarded, not retarded. Counted toothpicks, cheated cards. Autistic, sho’. Not retarded. You know Tom Hanks, ‘Forrest Gump.’ Slow, yes. Retarded, maybe. Braces on his legs. But he charmed the pants off Nixon and won a ping-pong competition. That ain’t retarded. Peter Sellers, “Being There.” Infantile, yes. Retarded, no. You went full retard, man. Never go full retard. You don’t buy that? Ask Sean Penn, 2001, “I Am Sam.” Remember? Went full retard, went home empty handed… “
Yes, it’s offensive – IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE! Those lines are exactly what Hollywood is all about.
“Tropic Thunder” is hilarious, over-the-top and spot-on in its depiction of Hollywood –
which leads me to this:
Tom Cruise As Movie Mogul Les Grossman!
Tom Cruise is hysterical – and virtually unrecognizable as crazy studio head Les Grossman, who loves to scream obscenities at anyone and everyone! One of his many hilarious lines is screamed into a phone, to an Agent who dares to ask for something – as Les Grossman says to him:
“Now I want you to take a step back… and literally fuck your own face!”
And then there’s THE DANCE:
Yes, Tom Cruise does one of the most hilarious dances ever – talk about an Actor willing to put it all out there!
You see why I can watch this “Cult Movie Monday” over and over again?
Ben Stiller said nearly all aspects of the Les Grossman character were developed by Tom Cruise, including the dancing and the look of the make-up. Stiller said that in addition to the more obvious make-up effects applied to Cruise’s face and head, and the extra hair on his chest and arms, Cruise also decided to play the character wearing oversized prosthetic hands!
If you haven’t seen, you are in for a hilarious treat – and it’s got great action sequences as well!
I love all films that send up Hollywood, like this one:
“The Player” also skewers Hollywood, and it has more Oscar-winning Actors in it than any film ever! See how that was done by clicking on my story here:
Feel free to leave me some of your favorite “Tropic Thunder” lines in the comments!
Categories: Academy Awards, Action Films, Art, Comedy Movies, Cult Movies, Great Films, Hollywood, Movies, Movies About Movies, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, Uncategorized
johnrieber 
Hahaha. I believed what I watched had a lot of truth in it. All the actors were hilarious. Nothing beats Tom though with the Grossman dance.
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And as my story pointed out, all of it was his idea…I LOVE that he will do stuff like this – I met him a few times and he was SO gracious and kind to EVERYONE – he’s introduce himself to everyone on the crew before the interview started…a consummate pro
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I have,always been in his camp.
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I love this movie! One of the rare films that make me laugh out loud.
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Cindy, I work in entertainment…it’s “SPOT ON” in its depiction of the filmmaking process and the egos of everyone involve dint eh business…Matthew McConaughy is hilarious as Tugg Speedman’s Agent – and EXACTLY the way Agents are!
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I watched this again a few weeks ago and laughed all over again.
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That’s what prompted this for me: we watched it again and it is laugh out loud funny! Thanks for commenting!
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I have never heard of this one. Sounds funny John.
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It’s an “R” rated sendup of Hollywood – very offensive but hilarious and spot on – if you are easily offended you may want to give it a pass, but the talent win the film are all at 100%!
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I love this film so much! Really demonstrates how versatile these actors are. My favourite line is:
“What do you mean, you people?”
“What do YOU mean, you people?”
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HA! Yes! And the whole “Alpa Chino” thing is inspired!
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I could not help laughing out loud)
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I would normally avoid a film like this like The Plague. But I did watch it on TV one night, and I thought it was very witty indeed. I actually laughed a lot, and Cruise was better in that role than in most of his others! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, it really digs into the pompous nature of Hollywood filmmaking in a funny and wildly offensive manner – and for that I loved it even more!
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