If there’s a sacred cow left in Hollywood that
isn’t viciously skewered in Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder, I don’t know
what it is. The narcissism and insecurity of movie stars, the quest for the
almighty dollar, action films, method acting, and mindless audiences all
come under fire. Stiller takes no prisoners, eviscerating these targets
with a sense of glee that only an insider who has seen it all and has had
enough of dealing with rampant egos — his own included — could
provide.
The premise requires a leap of faith. The setting is
modern-day Vietnam, and a Hollywood war epic in production is raging out of
control. Hobbled by his pampered stars — action has-been Tugg
Speedman (Stiller), Method-acting madman Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.),
and drug-addled Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), the film’s director (Steve
Coogan) decides, at the urging of his mad Vietnam-vet advisor (Nick Nolte),
to get them away from their creature comforts and drop them in the middle
of the jungle for some guerrilla filmmaking. The actors buy into the
exercise but fail to realize they have stumbled into an area controlled by
a drug cartel that’ll do anything to protect their heroin processing
plant. Mayhem ensues when the actors realize they’re not in Hollywood
anymore.
The film casts a wide comedic net, relying on
everything from physical pratfalls to vicious satire, and succeeds across
the board. What distinguishes this film from other comedic also-rans is the
intelligence of the script and the willingness of the cast to go all the
way with the material. Stiller lampoons the inanity of action films while
delivering the sort of pyrotechnics fans of the genre love. Meanwhile, the
fun the cast has lampooning their peers and themselves shows, which allows
the audience to see them all in a different light. A special mention must
go to Tom Cruise as a studio head who has honed bullying into an art form
and has no problem bustin’ a move to the latest raps when he’s
all alone. Seeing this much-maligned actor remind audiences what makes him
unique is worth the price of admission.
It’s been said that shooting in Europe has
revitalized Woody Allen as a filmmaker and while the director disputes
this, his work proves otherwise. His latest, Vicky
Cristina Barcelona, recounts the amorous
adventures of the two young American women (Rebecca Hall and Scarlett
Johansson) during a summer in Spain. The former is reserved and sure of her
fidelity to her fiancé; the latter doesn’t know what she wants
in a relationship but is willing to experiment. Each philosophy is put to
the test when they enter the sphere of romantic artist Juan Antonio (Javier
Bardem) and his troubled ex-wife (Penélope Cruz).
The romantic nature of Spain and the sense of
personal freedom it imbues are perfectly captured here, as are the crises
of conscience these women face. Each is tempted to embrace a new way of
life and love — but Allen suggests it’s easier said than done
and that although the temptation for change is great, our engrained
behavior and beliefs hold a powerful sway. This study of human nature is
not only revealing but tragic and funny, showing the filmmaker is still at
the top of
his game.
This article appears in Aug 7-13, 2008.
