Movie: Tropic Thunder

John “Four Leaf” Tayback(Nick Nolte) fought in the Vietnam war and lost two hands in a bloody battle with the Viet Cong. He has published a book based on his experiences in the war. Now, a major movie studio has bought the rights for the book and is filming the movie.

The major characters of this movie are being played by Tugg Speedman(Ben Stiller), Jeff Portnoy(Jack Black), Alpa Chino(Brandon T Jackson), Kevin Sandursky(Jay Baruchel) and Kirk Lazarus(Robert Downey Jr). Speedman is a fading action superstar and is desperately trying to salvage his career. Portnoy is a comedy star who has a successful career by portraying disgusting characters. Chino is a rapper. Sandursky is a newbie. Lazarus is a method actor!

The project is helmed by a British director named Damien Cockburn(Steve Coogan) and Cody(Danny McBride) joins him as the pyrotechnics expert. With a cast who is always conflicted on how to play and demanding rewrites of the script, the project is already delayed. As a result, the studio head Les Grossman(Tom Cruise) berates Damien on a video conference call.

Feeling low after the verbal abuse by Grossman, Damien is persuaded by Four Leaf to use guerilla style filming where hidden cameras will be used. He also suggests strongly to put all his lead actors inside the real jungle in order to instill fear in them to get the right emotions.

So, Damien puts all of his lead actors in the middle of jungle and explains them the plan. Unbeknownst to them, Damien has put the lead actors in the Flaming Dragon territory. Flaming Dragon is one of the world’s largest supplier of drugs. After explaining the situation to his actors, Damien accidentally steps into a land mine and is blown to pieces. But the lead actors think Damien is pulling a fast one.

They trek out of the jungle with the map supplied by Damien. But before long, conflicts arise between the team members. Speedman is separated from other and captured by members of Flaming Dragon.

Ben Stiller has written and directed this movie. He has also produced this movie along with others. This a comedy movie set in the backdrop of war and drugs.

As one of the lead actors, Ben Stiller adopts his characteristic style of looking earnest and innocent while saying the dumbest dialogues. The performance will remind you of his many previous roles. Ben has tried to expose the inner working of the movie industry by poking fun at them. You get to see what goes behind a studio, an agent and an actor in a satirical way.

Robert Downey Jr stands out with his hilarious take on method acting. He plays a black man and stays in character even when the camera is not rolling. Tom Cruise is unrecognizable with a bald plate, a beard and fake large hands. But the role is a good take on the studio head who controls the creative freedom of his subordinates. Mathew McConaughey acts as Speedman’s agent. You will catch a glimpse of many other well known actors as this movie has a lot of cameos.

The movie has a few laughs.

Genre: Comedy

Rating: **

Picture Courtesy: Yahoo Movies!

Tags: Movies,Tropic Thunder,Nick Nolte,Ben Stiller,Jack Black,Brandon T Jackson,Jay Baruchel,Robert Downey Jr,Steve Coogan,Danny McBride,Tom Cruise,Mathew McConaughey,Comedy