Like many Ben Stiller-SNL-Judd Apatow movies, the parts of Tropic Thunder are often times better than the sum.  The sum can be encapsulated in one mad-cap sentence: A troupe of jackass actor archetypes, from a heroin addled crass comedian to an offensively Method artiste, attempt to make an ultimate Vietnam epic and instead wander into a heroin cartel; hilarity ensues. 

That’s the redunkulousness that is Tropic Thunder. The plot is improbable and well, besides the point. The point is that Hollywood insiders like Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr.,  Matthew McConaughey and a fat-suit wearing Tom Cruise use this movie to satirize the narcissism, waste, and deceipt that pervades the movie industry.  While they are all playing to cartoonish types, the dialogue (more than the situations) are perceptive and funny.  My favorite bit, which includes a little bit of spoilerage, is paraphrased below:

Ben Stiller’s character had established that he supported panda rights and then accidentally kills a panda in the dark. So of course, he calls his agent, played by a brilliant McConaughey*, and says, “I just killed the one thing in the world that I love the most.” His agent replies, “You killed a hooker? Holy shit!” When Stiller replies, “No, a panda,” his agent mishears him and says, “Amanda? That’s probably not even her real name.”  While this feels slightly cribbed off an old bit from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, it’s still funny.

On a final note, there has been much already written about Tom Cruise’s disgusting, profanity spewing movie executive. It’s true, he is simultaneously offensive, perceptive, and funny. But the funny thing about him, as well Matthew McConaughey, is that they are actually trying to act while making this over the top movie. There’s a scene where Cruise is tempting McConaughey to do something really evil, and you can feel the malice radiating off of Cruise and you can see the wheels turning in McConaughey’s head as he tries to make a decision. 

Who knew that it would take a farce, complete with totally gratuitious fart and gay jokes, to make me like these two actors again?

* never thought I’d write that!