It's the year of RDj (that's Robert Downey, Jr. for those not super-tight with the actor). First Iron Man and now Tropic Thunder--the kooky ex-alcoholic is certainly appealing to teenage boys (okay, maybe not later this fall with his role in the Jamie Foxx-starring Oscar-bait The Soloist). We've always been keen to Downey's impeccable acting and boyish good looks, and we say long live RDj. And seriously, Tropic Thunder may have four other huge actors (if you count Matthew McConaughey as huge), but it is solely RDj's show to steal. Thunder is part Apocalypse Now and part Truffaut's Day for Night, a '70s French comedy about the people (and their egos) who make movies.

Written, directed, and starring Ben Stiller, Thunder takes a peek inside the movie biz with a cast of big-shot actors playing egomaniacal big-shot actors. The three actors are in Vietnam to film a war flick, but through a weird series of events, they end up in a real combat zone, only not all the actors know it.

Stiller plays a former gigantic action star now making movies about...uhh....what's PC to say given the groups picketing this film? Mentally handicapped people? Jack Black is a heroin-addicted comedy star whose biggest film is called Fatties and is about an obese family, all played by Black himself. (You think Eddie Murphy gets the joke?)

Rounding out the trio is RDj as Kevin Lazarus, an Australian method actor who morphs into each character and has a pocketful of Oscars. For their realistic Vietnam film, Lazarus has undergone a skin pigmentation procedure in order to portray an African American solider, and he never breaks character, speaking in a Carl Weathers voice at all times. This sometimes gets under the real brown skin of rapper-turned-actor Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson).

Trying to become relevant again, Tom Cruise cameos as a foul-mouthed, fat, and hairy Hollywood producer who loves to yell and dance to "Apple Bottom Jeans." Sometimes it seems a bit desperate, but for the most part it's nice to see Cruise just going for the laughs without trying to act all deep and shit.

The movie begins hilariously with three trailers that encompass the actors' recent films (try not to laugh your ass off at Satan's Alley), but quickly gets bogged down with a lot of exposition and too much McConaughey. Fast-forward twenty minutes, and Tropic Thunder is one of the best movies Stiller has thrown our way. It's fucking hilarious.

Although, yes, it is not very PC, some of the funniest scenes are when RDj gives Stiller's character pointers on how to play "retard" to gain the most awards, or when he's butting heads with the only African American on the film by craving some fried chicken. Seriously, he MAKES this film, but it's not for the weak-hearted.

Review by: Darcie Duttweiler

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