Monday Mayhem: Tropic Thunder - A parody of a film about the making of an action film

In our new weekly series, Monday Mayhem, we recommend fast-paced Hollywood action films

No other global film industry has garnered the same appeal and fanfare as Hollywood over the course of the last century. The postmodern era in particular has witnessed a significant rise in the popularity of American films and even television shows. It has therefore had a significant influence on global perception of American culture, its history, and most significantly its foreign diplomacy.

The United States’ relationships with various nations, both allies and hostile nations have been well documented in films and TV shows. But more often than not, Hollywood depictions of international conflict have been accused of being biased toward the Americans. Of course, there are odd exceptions such as Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, a film highly critical of America’s involvement in Vietnam. It is, in fact, loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, which focuses on colonialism and is critical of atrocities under the rule of King Leopold II of Belgium in the Congo Free State (the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Despite some of the questionable tropes in American films, often at the expense of foreign nationals, they have also produced films highly critical of America, such as the aforementioned Apocalypse Now, and Tropic Thunder. In their defence (America and Hollywood), not many nations would tolerate any form of criticism of the government or its military. The fact that these films exist is a testament to America’s willingness to uphold the idea of free speech and artistic expression.

Directed, co-written, and co-produced by Ben Stiller, Tropic Thunder is by no stretch of the imagination a cinematic masterpiece made of the same ilk as Apocalypse Now, but it remains equally significant in terms of its relevance to American socio-politics. It features a star-studded ensemble of Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Steve Coogan, Danny McBride, Nick Nolte, Bill Hader, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Cruise.

The narrative’s focus is on a group of actors attempting to make a very expensive film in Vietnam. After a series of mishaps resulting in the loss of millions of dollars, the director of the film, Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) decides to drop the actors in the middle of a jungle in Vietnam with hidden cameras and rigged explosives for action sequences for an unconventional Guerrilla style filmmaking. However, unbeknownst to the director, they landed right in the middle of the base of operations of a major drug cartel.

As one would imagine, chaos ensues, while the lead actor of the film they are starring in, Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), remains in denial that the things happening around them are real. He believes it is part of an elaborate ruse by the director to keep the production moving forward. Robert Downey Jr’s character Kirk Lazarus is a revelation in many ways. It is undoubtedly one of Downey Jr’s greatest performances, on par with his performance in Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. As Lazarus explained in the film “I’m a dude, playing dude, disguised as another dude.” Kirk Lazarus is a parody of method actors who fully immerse themselves into their roles, often refusing to break character even when not filming. Lazarus, a white Australian, does a medical procedure to play a black character. This is in fact a clever subversion of the social stigma surrounding ‘black face’ and the whitewashing of ethnic characters by Hollywood over the years.

Stiller’s Speedman is also a walking cliche by design, and along with Jack Black’s character Jeff Portnoy, they are both symbolic representations of unoriginal franchise films such as the Fast & Furious movies. Ironically, Robert Downey Jr would star in another film in 2008, Iron Man, one that would spearhead the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a franchise that is well on course to topple Star Wars.

The black comedy, and the explosive action scenes in the third act of the film, elevate the film to another level. The action choreography, in particular, is well-executed, something that is unheard of in parodies. Stiller has paid homage to some iconic war films such as Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, and Apocalypse Now through deliberate recreations of certain scenes from these films. The film’s underrated star however is Tom Cruise’s unrecognisable portrayal of the uncompromising film producer, Les Grossman.

Tropic Thunder remains one of the best films by Ben Stiller as an auteur. Robert Downey Jr’s performance certainly deserved an Oscar, but considering he was up against Heath Ledger’s legendary performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight, he was always fighting a losing battle. Tropic Thunder also remains significant today, more so than when it was released in 2008, simply because of the relative dearth of pluralistic content in recent years.

Watch Tropic Thunder here .