Tropic Thunder
Living in the shadow of Sherlock Holmes, as any great-grandson of a great man know, I’ve become accustomed to a certain multi-layered nature to reality. There is the layer of my day-to-day existence, the layer of legend the people see in my bloodline as Sherlock Holmes IV, and the layer of being the world’s first and foremost consulting movie investigator. Thus, it was not in the least troubling to find myself in the comedically layered confection that is Ben Stiller’s latest film, “Tropic Thunder.”
Starting up with imitation movie previews and commercials to introduce its movie star characters, “Tropic Thunder” starts playing its games early. The previews and commercials give way to a bloody war movie, which soon pulls back and shows the film’s true colors: a movie about the making of a war movie.
As an afficianado of Stiller’s last directorial creation, “Zoolander,” I expected off-the-wall antics from over-the-top characters, but the level of talent in “Tropic Thunder” takes things to a new level. Stiller’s over-pumped action hero is the clueless Stiller character we’re used to, but having Robert Downey, Jr. playing a Russell Crowe take-off playing a black soldier is a completely different thing. Jack Black does the Jack Black thing, bringing a third comic acting style in, and then along comes Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, Nick Nolte, Danny McBride (fresh from last week’s “Pineapple Express”) doing some very strange things.
There’s slapstick comedy, insight comedy, visual comedy, parody, and no holds barred. The only thing the movie is missing is female characters, but there’s enough to mock about Hollywood maleness that you probably won’t notice they’re aren’t there.
It’s a big, big movie, and while it might not be the funniest comedy of the year, it certainly does the job as a fine summer wind-down extravaganza.
What Great-Grandfather Sherlock might have said:
“Surely it is not hard to say that a man with that bearing, expression of authority, and sun-baked skin, is a soldier . . . .”
Past Investigations
An Introduction to
Mr. Sherlock Holmes IV
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day
In The Name Of The King:
A Dungeon Siege Tale
Fantastic Four:
Rise of the Silver Surfer