Tropic Thunder (2008)

When a group of actors decide to make the ultimate war movie hilarity is bound to ensue. Meet Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) an aging action star trying to recapture his stardom, Academy Award Winning Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.), Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) a rap star turned actor, and Jeff Potney (Jack Black) comedic star of such films as The Fatties and The Fatties Fart 2 but with a drug problem, and Kevin Sanduskey (Jay Baruchel) the guy whose name noone remembers. This ensemble is retelling the story of "Four Leaf" Tayback (Nick Nolte) and his unit's daring rescue mission in the jungles of Veitnam. After production delays and cost overruns producer Les Grossman (a bald Tom Cruise) threatens to scrap the project so director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) decides to send the unit into the jungle by themselves to get a grittier feel and promptly steps on a mine. Can this group of actors make it through the jungle and back to civilization? Can they work as a team? Will they ever figure out that this isn't a movie anymore?

Trivia: The poster for "The Fatties" behind Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) in the trailer features the names of a few of the film's actual crew members: costume designer Marlene Stewart, editor Greg Hayden, director of photography John Toll, and screenwriter Justin Theroux. In addition, the poster contains the DreamWorks Pictures logo, the Dolby Stereo logo, and a fictional composite of several MPAA ratings (reading "PG - Parental Guidance - under 11 requires accompanying parent or guardian"). The title is a play on "Tropic Lightning," nickname of the 25th Infantry Division which did see action in Vietnam.

I am pretty much neutral on Ben Stiller. He can be funny or not, it's hard to tell. There's Something About Mary was hilarious but some of his later stuff was pretty blah. It works better when he is more of a straight man (Night At The Museum, Meet The Parents) as opposed to full on comedic character (Zoolander). This time he directs the movie so this is his baby. It was a good movie when it came to making fun of the movie industry and the actors. Robert Downey, Jr. keeps being good. This time he plays the prototypical method actor. Instead of getting makeup every morning he undertakes a controversial skin pigment procedure to become black for his role. Tom Cruise steals some scenes as the producer. Over all it was a pretty good average movie.