TROPIC THUNDER (2008) - Ben Stiller

These days, it seems like there are two types of comedy film. Films produced or directed by Judd Apatow, and films staring Will Ferrel. So it’s nice to see that Ben Stiller’s new film, the comedy Tropic Thunder has little to no link to either of these guys. Things are getting a little bit repetitive, so comedy needs something else. Parody is a staple of comedy. And war films are ripe for parody. Yet few films tackle this. Stiller does, and manages to create something genuinely funny.

Tugg Speedman is a Hollywood superstar. However, his career is on a bit of a decline, especially after the spectacular failure of his attempt at serious acting, the film Simple Jack. Attempting to reignite his career, Speedman takes the lead in ‘the most expensive war movie ever made,’ Tropic Thunder. He is joined by obnoxious fart comedian, Jeff Portnoy and five time Oscar winner, Kirk Lazarus. However, once filming begins, it immediately spirals out of control as the actors’ egos clash and director, Damien Cockburn loses control of the production. In a final attempt to get the best out of his actors, Cockburn drops his cast into the middle of the jungle. However, things get worse when it becomes clear that the cast are unknowingly in the proximity of a heavily armed drugs gang.



In Tropic Thunder, co-writer and director Stiller has created quite an attack on the film industry. Actors, agents, directors, everyone comes under fire. He launched a similar attack on the model industry in 2001 with Zoolander. But the film isn’t cynical or cutting. Instead, it’s more like a cartoon version of the industry, albeit with gore and gratuitous bad language. The film received a bit of flack over the Kirk Lazarus character who has skin pigment alteration in order to play the platoon sergeant, Lincoln Osiris. But it’s a parody. It’s not serious. It pokes fun at itself and the type of actor who immerses him or herself a little too much into their role. So these complaints are ridiculous. And besides, it’s a comedy. And a damn funny one at that.

Stiller, who co-wrote the film with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen creates one of the most memorable comedy characters in Kirk Lazarus. Robert Downey Jnr.’s performance is spot on. His character is so lost in the role that he cant snap out of it when it’s clear things have gone absolutely pear shaped. It’s Downey Jnr., and a stunningly hilarious cameo by Tom Cruise of all people that are the outstanding things about Tropic Thunder. The dialogue is hilarious, and the parodies are subtle but handled brilliantly. Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Apocalypse Now, and a great many other films are lampooned but in a way that makes sense in the context of the film. It’s not like everything stops to go ‘hey, look! We’re poking fun at... (insert pop-culture reference here)’ It’s something that talentless hacks like Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg have no idea how to do.



The performances from everyone are very good. Steve Coogan is his usual brilliant self, but his role is unfortunately quite small. Playing the man who wrote the book the film Tropic Thunder (the film in the film) is based on is crazy Nick Nolte. Nolte is madness personified, and adds a great edge to proceedings. The trio of movie stars are also great parodies in themselves. Stiller doesn’t lose any points in playing Tugg Speedman. He’s not preoccupied with directing and is very funny in the role. And Jack Black had the drug-addled Jeff Portnoy nailed. But like I’ve said before, it’s Robert Downey Jnr. and Tom Cruise who steal the show. It’s just a shame we don’t get to see more comedy from Tom Cruise. His reputation as someone a little bit eccentric just adds to the role. Hell, the film even makes Matthew McConaughey look like a great actor.

Tropic Thunder does lose a little steam in the middle of the film. But the opening is relentlessly funny and the laugh count does drop, but things are still very amusing. Sure, Tropic Thunder won’t win awards. But it’s a brilliant parody and a very funny comedy. And it almost makes me forgive Stiller for the dreadful Night At The Museum.


8/10

To kill a leader...

Bryan Singer's Valkyrie has had a pretty hard time up until now. The production was fraught with problems and it's star, Tom Cruise is today more known for his questionable public persona than his acting skills. However, as the trailer for the film shows, Singer and co may have the last laugh. Valkyrie looks spectacular. A fascinating story, a stellar cast and a director who can handle ensemble drama as well as spectacle means that Valkyrie could be quite the hit.

LIONS FOR LAMBS (2007) - Robert Redford

Robert Redford has been in the business quite a long time. He’s been a megastar actor, Oscar winning director, patron of the arts, and founder of the Sundance film festival. His influence on the film industry is enormous, and this year, he returns to the screen, and behind the camera with another politically-charged film, Lions for Lambs. Another issue-tackling film that attempts to teach as well as entertain, it’s part of a group of films that arrive to our screens in a time where politics has never been more important.

Spreading it’s issues into three separate stories, Lions for Lambs opens with a meeting between a famous reporter, Janine Roth and one of Washington’s most powerful senators, Jasper Irving. The government has just put into action a new strategy for the war on terror, a strategy spearheaded by Irving. Irving hopes he can win over Roth, and through her, the support of the nation. Meanwhile, two Army Rangers, Arian and Ernest, are part of a platoon moving into the highlands of Afghanistan as part of this new strategy. Their helicopter comes under attack and Ernest falls from the helicopter. Arian, Ernest’s long time friend selflessly leaps out of the helicopter to help his friend. And back in the US, Professor Stephen Malley, Arian and Ernest’s college professor, struggles to inspire privileged but apathetic student Todd Hayes.



Lions for Lambs is Redford’s seventh effort as director, and so far, is his most politically ambitious. On a purely cinematical level, it’s a fairly basic film of talking heads. Two of the three segments take place almost entirely in one room, with two characters pontificating their different views on the war on terror, the men behind this war, and society in general. The third segment is the action part of the film. Strangely, the film was written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, writer of the woeful ‘The Kingdom.’ This film seems to be the justification for The Kingdom, the explosions out of his system, Carnahan now writes the film with a brain.

But despite it’s intentions, and they’re clearly very good intentions, there is something inherently lacking in Lions For Lambs. Firstly, the three segments don’t really gel together. The segment between Roth, played by Meryl Streep, and Irving, Tom Cruise presents something in the way of a counter-argument to the segment featuring Malley, Redford and his student, played by Andrew Garfield. Cruise’s Irving is a little too much of the clichéd slimy politician finding any route to the White House. Streep’s character attempts to counter his arguemnts, but ultimately comes off too weak.




The strength of the film is in Redford’s scenes. His Vietnam-vet, now liberal professor rings true, and his convictions are sound. He clearly states his disgust for the cowardly men that send lead his country into a war that has no sign of ending. A war that cannot be justified. He is saddened that two of his students with the most potential have marched to war, inspired by his teachings, yet he admires their reasons for doing so. He simply does not want to see a student with potential squander his promise.

The third segment, that of the two students who went to war, played by Michael Pena and Derek Luke, seems the most contrived. The most interesting part of this story is the flashback to a debate Arian and Ernest sparked off in class, but other than that, this segment feels tacked-on.

While Lions For Lambs is a box-office and critical failure, it’s certainly a noble failure. The performances are all very strong. Streep and Redford are old hands at this, and they’re well cast. Despite the negative press over his private life, Tom Cruise is still an excellent actor, always seemingly at his best when playing characters with highly questionable morals (see Magnolia for Cruise at his career-best). And the performances from Pena, Luke and Garfield are all very strong. But for all this, the film falls flat due to the script. I didn’t hate it as much as some people, but I can understand their complaints. And for now, I think I’ve had my fill of current political films!


5/10