Random Movie Review - Tropic Thunder

 

I've seen tons of parody films and films that are supposed to be a satire of something. Many years ago, we had films that were a collection of parodies rolled into one big film that, ultimately, just wasn't very good. But then you get those clever ones that stick to just one or a handful of parodies, and I like that when they work. In this film, it's a parody of a few things, such as war films set in Vietnam, the (at the time) modern Hollywood studio system and method acting. It's had an interesting marketing campaign which aimed to have the three main actors, play fictional actors with what's known as "faux" trailers, films, websites and even an energy drink. Otherwise, known as fake, but it somehow worked out well as the film ended up becoming a success, despite controversy on its depiction of disabled people and using brown face makeup. Neither of which would be allowed in this day and age with the amount of changes to equal rights and social norms. Anyway, let's get to it:

So after 3 faux trailers featuring the main actors playing these fictional actors (the actual film itself is distributed by the live action side of DreamWorks and Paramount), the memoir of Staff Sergeant John "Four Leaf" Tayback (played by Nick Nolte) is revealed to being turned into a film. The cast, who each have their own problems, are then dropped in the middle of a jungle to see if their acting abilities can help them escape the very real dangers that await them, with hidden cameras and rigged special effects to help make it into a film. This coming from an idea that Four Leaf gives to film director Damien Cockburn (played by Steve Coogan) who, himself, is feeling the pressure from studio executives.

So controversies aside (including the recently convicted Harvey Weinstein being one of the producers), this film is good. It's over the top with its effects, parodies, satires and so forth and while it does feature a few actors that are part of that group known as the "Frat Pack", I feel this doesn't count as a film of theirs if only because two of its members and no more, are in it. Love the fake trailers and the events that transpire in the film, and I feel gutted that we may never get a film quite like this ever again. But then again, things could change between now and then, so who knows. 8/10