Tropic Thunder

Ben Stiller. Jack Black.... and Robert Downey, Jr.? Yes. (And Brandon Jackson, Jay Baruchel, Nick Nolte, Steve Coogan, Danny McBride, Bill Hader as well as Matthew McConaughey and Tom Cruise as you've never seen them before) This isn't your typical comedy.

The premise is 4 out of control ego actors are filming a movie about Vietnam, and after something goes wrong they are in the jungle for real. Only they don't realize it, til the adventure starts.

The movie starts out slow. But the dialog and Robert Downey, Jr. are classic from start to finish. Ben Stiller plays an action star past his prime trying to reestablish himself as a dramatic actor. He plays his character one-dimensionally beautifully, a far cry from his boring generic paranoid unlucky characters. Downey, Jr. plays an over dedicated actor to the point where he goes under surgery to make himself black to play a black man's role. Jack Black plays a drug addicted, Eddie Murphy in Nutty Professor, character.

The rest of the cast holds up. McConaughey is great as an air head, super dedicated agent to Ben Stiller, and Tom Cruise in bald/fat suit plays an egotistical producer. It's really great to see them do something different.

Overall, the movie is chunky, and has some lingering parts. But its well worth a watch if you have two hours to kill. It's not a movie you could watch over and over, though.

I rate this movie 7.8 out of 10.

Year One

When I first read of this movie I got excited. When the trailers came out, I was hoping. However, when I entered the theater I knew that I was expecting too much. Harold Ramis is good. He's had a great career. However, trying to write a comedy with Jack Black and Michael Cera about them being cavemen and going through the early years of Earth and having the storyline explain how things came to be was just way, way too much.

Jack Black should always be in a supporting role. He just can't lead it. As should Michael Cera (see: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist). Black just has too much physical comedy which was only funny before the year 2000. Putting David Cross and Paul Rudd in it sounded good, too. However, if you force them to go on a horrible script and have them act in ways they don't (physical comedy), its awful.

They also put in Olivia Wilde for eye candy. Her character is just boring in the movie.

I don't know, basically from 10 minutes in the movie, you know you want to stop watching it, but you just sit through it. Oh, and they put McLovin in it, and he isn't funny in the movie. Coupled with the fact that Hank Azaria is in it doing the voice of the old sea man with the scratchy voice from The Simpsons. Its just painful.

This movie is a mess held together by a terrible portrayal of events that took place... or maybe didn't, over the course of time.

Good idea, bad casting, bad script.

I rate this movie 4.0 out of 10.