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Tropic Thunder

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Tropic Thunder (2008)

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Reviews Counted:220

Fresh:180

Rotten:40

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: With biting satire, plenty of subversive humor, and an unforgettable turn by Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder is a triumphant late Summer comedy.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material.

Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:19-09-2008

Synopsis: When the box office champ Ben Stiller's comedic performances aren't a variation on a soft-spoken, put-upon everyman with an eventual fuse, he's usually playing a full-blown absurdist monster with... When the box office champ Ben Stiller's comedic performances aren't a variation on a soft-spoken, put-upon everyman with an eventual fuse, he's usually playing a full-blown absurdist monster with an apoplectic Napoleon complex. These bizarre creations usually adorn films in which the funnyman provides the supporting work (DODGEBALL, HEAVYWEIGHTS), but, whenever he's directing, he's free to build an entire filmic universe around his asinine, ludicrously funny, culture-skewering characters and premises. His ZOOLANDER (2001) bit at the entertainment industry with silly abandon, but Stiller has firmly set TROPIC THUNDER within the realm of sophisticated Hollywood satire. In it, a desperate director named Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) trying to make a Vietnam war movie drops his pampered actors into the heart of the jungle. Cockburn's stars include Stiller as an action hero who's starting to make bad career choices, Jack Black as an insecure low-brow comedy star going through heroin withdrawals, and Robert Downey Jr. as an Australian Oscar winner so lost in his "craft" he underwent a procedure to become black for his role. In the jungle, they remain under the delusion that they are still being filmed even after they encounter a dangerous gang of druglords. The film's basic premise has popped up several times since Hollywood's 1970s golden age in films such as THREE AMIGOS! and GALAXY QUEST. Where those films simply blanketed a classic Overconfident Bumbling Idiot comedy showcase with a pop culture lexicon, however, TROPIC THUNDER could have only been made, as on-the-nose at is, by people who have been working in the Hollywood system for years, making cutting observations along the way. Simply put, this raucous satire knows big-budget filmmaking, the delusional narcissism of actors, and even the good points of those actors--perhaps why they're celebrated--like the back of its hand. [More]

Starring: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey, Brandon T. Jackson

Starring: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey, Brandon T. Jackson, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Steve Coogan, Bill Hader, Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise

Director: Ben Stiller

Director: Ben Stiller
Screenwriter: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux, Etan Cohen
Story: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux
Producer: Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfield, Eric McLeod
Composer: Theodore Shapiro
Studio: Dreamworks SKG

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Reviews for Tropic Thunder

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
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This comedy about movie-making that allows the cast to play knowingly with their careers and public personae. But the film feels only half as funny as it should be, falling back too often on big action sequences that are too ridiculous to work on any leve

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment 9 Comments
09/19/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Tropic Thunder gives us exactly what we expect of it — lashings of easy fun, spare-no-expense action, actors delightedly pushing the boat out in all-out parody and a dig at the absurdity of Hollywood that the big boys back in LA will find quite comforting

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
09/19/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

The Hollywood comedy Tropic Thunder comes at us like a mad army cresting a hill, intent on audience massacre. My advice: shoot first and don’t wait for the whites of their eyes.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
09/19/08
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

Ben Stiller’s latest comedy is funny – but not always in a “ha-ha” way.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
09/19/08
Sun Online

But flashes of inspiration aside, Tropic Thunder just isn’t that funny and looks like something that was more fun to make than to actually sit down and watch.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment 6 Comments
09/19/08
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

The first ten minutes of this are so hilarious, it's a mystery why the other 97 are so lacking in laughs.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
09/19/08
Daily Mail [UK]

This film is hilarious. It’s not going to win any Oscars and won’t tax your brain but it does exactly what it says on the tin and dishes the laughs out like they are going out of fashion.

Full Review Source: Heart 106.2 | comment 1 Comment
09/19/08
Heart 106.2

Apparently actors are narcissistic and Hollywood is ruthless… Stiller doesn’t say anything we don’t know, but stand-out turns from Downey Jr and Cruise make Tropic Thunder very funny for all its flaws.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
09/19/08
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
Total Film

War Hollywood-style's worst offence is lip-quavering, flag-waving jingoism, a stomach-turning affectation that is just aching to get a satirical slap. Stiller steers well clear.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
09/19/08
Tim Evans
Tim Evans
Sky Movies

The first hour of the film has an energy and wit that makes it a joy to behold, but as Stiller tries to tie it all together into a cohesive hole, the humour drains from the piece, and it all becomes a little tiresome.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies UK | comment Comment
09/19/08
Chris Tilly
Chris Tilly
IGN Movies UK

Tropic Thunder is, almost necessarily, a hit-and-miss affair. Its targets certainly seem dated. But it's hard not to warm to a film in which a character's cry of "I can't feel my leg" earns the reply "Ain't nothing but a thang."

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
09/19/08
Sukhdev Sandhu
Sukhdev Sandhu
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This is cheap rum. The Apocalypse Now pyrotechnics clearly cost a fortune. But the pleasures of Tropic Thunder are spread as thinly as Ben Stiller. He not only stars, he directs, co-writes, produces, and undoubtedly made the tea.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
09/19/08
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Patchy but Ben Stiller heaves mainstream Hollywood comedy out of its Will Ferrell-inspired rut.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/19/08
Matthew De Abaitua
Matthew De Abaitua
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

But its better moments of self-referential snark, such as an ace cameo from Tom Cruise as an obnoxious studio exec, have the feel of a superior end-of-term revue.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
09/19/08
Ben Walters
Ben Walters
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There are moments of comedy grandeur, but this isn’t as consistently funny as you’d hope. Nevertheless, Downey Jr.’s Kirk Lazarus is instantly up there with the comedy greats.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/19/08
Dan Jolin
Dan Jolin
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Enjoyable comedy with terrific performances and several hilarious gags, but the plot loses its way halfway through and it runs out of steam before the end.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
09/18/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Want some advice? Catch the first 10 minutes of Tropic Thunder and the last 10 minutes and you've got a funny film. The other 87 minutes? Anyone for knitting?

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
09/18/08
Victor Olliver
Victor Olliver
Teletext

Feels only half as funny as it should be, falling back too often on big action sequences that are too ridiculous to work on any level.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment 11 Comments
08/17/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Produces some real laughs but was probably more fun to make than it ultimately is to watch.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment 8 Comments
07/30/08
John Hazelton
John Hazelton
Screen International

Not a third as "dark" or "ferocious" as it believes it is

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment 1 Comment
08/26/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
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Latest News for Tropic Thunder

January 08, 2009: Broadcast Film Critics Name Critics' Choice Winners
The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards were given on January 8, 2009, to honor the finest achievements in 2008 filmmaking. A list of nominees follows below, with winners in bold: More...

January 07, 2009: Slate's Movie Club Looks Back at 2008 Opens in new window
Slate's Movie Club, boasting an all-female lineup for 2009, has convened to debate the best movies of '08. More...

December 12, 2008: Weekly Ketchup: Tom Cruise to return as Tropic Thunder's Les Grossman
This week sees a surprising lack of the remakes we've gotten used to seeing in the Weekly Ketchup, with the shelving of one horror remake balancing out a movie that is only a... More...

December 12, 2008: Les Grossman: The Movie? Opens in new window
Tom Cruise's foulmouthed studio executive, Les Grossman, stole the show in "Tropic Thunder" and earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. Could a Les Grossman feature film be next? More...

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