Tropic Thunder - Keep calm, it's a satire

'Tropic Thunder' is a 'star-studded' comedy which worked as much as it didn't.  It seemed to split the audience down the middle, dividing those who found it funny with those who found it offensive.  We have the - highly-bankable - trio of Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr and Jack Black, playing a group of overly-paid actors who are in the process of filming a Vietnam war movie deep in the jungle.  It's a weird kind of action-comedy hybrid which doesn't just poke fun at a few Hollywood conventions, but actually tries to tackle some deeper Hollywood issues at the same time.  Personally, I found it a great film, but it was those 'deeper' issues of race and mental health that seemed to rub a few people up the wrong way.

Before I get on to that part of the film, I will say that the cast is great.  They all basically play exaggerated versions of themselves (or at least stereotypical A-list Hollywood actors) and seem happy to be the butt of many jokes aimed at them/the industry.  They all seem to be having fun and play off each other really well.  There are plenty of other stars who pop up - such as (a slightly underused) Steve Coogan and a (totally unrecognisable) Tom Cruise.

The movie of the movie is already undergoing production problems when their director tries to mix things up a bit by shooting the film 'gorilla-style' and drops the principal cast off in the middle of a jungle in order to get the shots.  A noble idea, but one which ends up falling short when the actors end up being stalked by real enemy soldiers.  This kind of set-up means that, for a comedy, there's actually a fair amount of action scenes (well, it is a war movie after all!).  In fact, some of the action is action better than what you might see in a typical action-orientated film these days (i.e. a lot of real stunts rather than overused CGI - although there is a bit of CGI thrown in here as well).

You'll probably get more out of the comedy portion of this film if you're well into 'Hollywood industry culture' and can see what they're trying to say about it all.  I know that much of the controversy surrounding this film comes from Robert Downey Jr 'blacking up' in order to play a solder of African descent, but I really believe that this was done in order to show (as another African-American character even says in the film) that this shows how even when there is a part in a movie that would suit a black man, it still goes to a white man!  Then there's the issues with 'mental health.' Ben Stiller's character apparently played another character in a previous film within this film with learning difficulties.  I suppose this aspect is slightly harder to defend and I can see how some people may have taken offense.  However, hopefully this won't detract from the film's overall message about how shallow and pretentious Hollywood is.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one