CURRY BEAR

Kids, Curry Bear hasn’t written anything for the past few days on his website. There was one reason for it: I saw Tropic Thunder and I have been laughing so hard after watching the movie that I haven’t had time to eat, sleep, shave or poop. This is probably the funniest movie I’ve seen this year (and most likely will stay that way). But I don’t want to hype it up because I don’t want your expectations rising higher than interest rates on subprime loans. That being said, I enjoyed Tropic Thunder a lot more than Pineapple Express, which was released a week prior.

Tropic Thunder is a movie where Hollywood is mocking itself. This movie is directed by Ben Stiller, who also plays one of the lead roles as Tugg Speedman (think Tom Cruise). Tugg is an action star whose career is on the decline and Robert Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, a method actor who takes his roles seriously (think of actors like Christian Bale, Daniel Day Lewis). He takes it so seriously that he gets a controversial skin alteration treatment that turns him black so he could play the role of an African American in Tropic Thunder. Jack Black plays Jeff Portnoy, an actor whose Fatties movie series has made him a star and pays for his drug habits (think of Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor). The other two actors are Brandon T. Jackson as rapper/actor Alpa Chino (say it aloud if you don’t get it) and Jay Baruchel as Kevin Sandusky. Funny man Steve Coogan plays a director (Damien Cockburn) while Tom Cruise (in the best cameo ever) plays the movie’s producer.

The Plot
The plot of the movie is basically the making of the movie Tropic Thunder. Confused? Yeah, so was I. All characters in the film have signed on to make one of the best war movies ever. The name of the movie is Tropic Thunder, which is based on a book written by a Vietnam vet (Sgt. Four Leaf Tayback played by Nick Nolte). When a big explosion scene goes all wrong in the beginning of the movie, director Cockburn gets a beating from producer Grossman. Four Leaf Tayback then tells director Cockburn that in order to inspire real fear into the actors, he needs to film them in the jungle. So Cockburn drops all the actors in the middle of nowhere and tells them that he’ll be filming them with hidden cameras. Unfortunately, the actors think they’re making a movie when in reality they’re in the jungle right smack in the middle of a territory controlled by a heroin-producing gang. And the movie gets even more hilarious from there on.

The Acting
The actors in the movie have their A-game on. I know a lot of people aren’t fan of Ben Stiller’s work, but I am not one of them. I loved Ben Stiller in movies such as Zoolander, Meet The Parents and Dodgeball. But even if you didn’t like those movies, I would still highly recommend Tropic Thunder because it’s not just Ben Stiller who is hilarious. Also, Ben Stiller also looks like he juiced up for this role because that guy is jacked (no homo). Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus, a white actor playing a black role, is probably one of the funniest characters ever created. I think I may have laughed every time he opened his mouth. In fact, I would love to watch this movie twice just to understand what he was saying. Brandon T. Jackson as rapper turned actor Alpa Chino is the only “real” black actor in the movie. And he is pissed that the only black role went to a white guy. Actor Jay Baruchel, who plays “actor” Kevin Sandusky in Tropic Thunder, is actually a funny guy. If you’ve seen Knocked Up, you might remember him as the guy who walked into the delivery room and was grossed out. And he was also in one of my all time favorite sitcoms, Undeclared. Now I am not a fan of Jack Black, but even he won me over in this movie. I usually find him annoying and think his acting his over-the-top, but this time he was perfect for the role as heroin-addict actor Jeff Portnoy. But the one actor that actually steals the show is Tom Cruise. Yes, Tom Cruise is so good in this movie as producer Les Grossman that it makes me want to convert to Scientology. Hands down, if I had to pick one reason to watch this movie, I would have to say it’s for Tom Cruise. I think this guy just redeemed himself after that Scientology crap he pulled.

Should you watch Tropic Thunder? Hell yes. This is not a movie you want to miss and wait for on DVD. Ben Stiller did an amazing job as a director and actor while the rest of the cast really pushed this movie from “funny” to “so hilarious that it hurts when I laugh”. If you miss Tropic Thunder in the theaters, I hope your house is attacked by locust.

I give Tropic Thunder 4.5 paws out of 5. The .5 is taken away because I think a few more jokes could have been added. Yes, I’m greedy for jokes.