Tropic Thunder (2008)
Last Watch Date - July 26, 2026
Total Times Watched - Twice
Comments
I saw this years ago and was not impressed, but I have at least ONE friend who swears by it and another who also said he likes it. Normally there's a good amount of overlap in what we enjoy in movies, so I figured I'd give it another chance and see if maybe I watched it before when I wasn't really in a comedy mood. Today I was definitely in the mood for a comedy. HOW DID IT WORK OUT?
The same! I laughed exactly one time during this whole movie and I really wanted to laugh. But uh here we are. Finished it up with ONE single laugh. Woof. You know what's most disappointing about the movie? It has so many massive stars and some really good comedic actors, but it falls flat. I'm actually not even sure what people like so much about it. It has pretty good reviews. I don't get it.
Robert Downey Jr's character has been talked about to death, but one thing I always find odd is that I've seen so many black folks say "hey his blackface in that movie is fine because it's so good." Good at what? He plays a dunce actor. There's nothing more beyond that. The same basically goes for Ben Stiller, who more or less plays Derek Zoolander in this movie. Jay Baruchel's character is grounded, while you have Jack Black craving heroin the whole time. Danny McBride plays Danny McBride and while I usually like him, this isn't for me. It's very much in the vein of his Kenny Powers character. Tom Cruise is good in his role but mostly because it's unexpected of him. I think there's some novelty to him being in that role that makes it slightly better. Repeat viewings (I only watched it twice but still) do have that novelty go away, so there's that.
In terms of plot, this movie is dumb. I don't need a great plot for a comedy, so this is fine. This entire movie is to satirize actors, which is maybe why this doesn't land for me. I don't care about actors or acting or "the craft" (except The Craft with Fairuza Balk). I've always seen them as vapid, empty vessels. Maybe they're not all that way, but I'd bet at least 99% are. Anywho, that's the point of this. It's WAY too long by the way. 2 hours for THIS? Wtf.
Oh yeah, the scene I laughed at was when he went back to get his "son," but then immediately ran back with the kid stabbing him, finally picked him off of his back, and chucked him down into the creek.
Recommended?
No. It's super forgettable to me, definitely NOT Ben Stiller's best (nor any of the other actors' best) and not even in the top half.
