9/11/08

Oh hell yeah! Go see “Tropic Thunder” NOW!!!!!!!! That has to be the funniest damn movie I have seen in a long time. Here’s how damned funny it was: I even liked The Psycho Midget (AKA Tom Cruise) and Jack Black in this film. That is very high praise coming from me because I hate The Psycho Midget and Jack Black. In fact, this one role might just remove Jack Black from my “People I can do without” list. Yeah, he and the film were that good. The Psycho Midget, not so much because he’s still totally whack-job, off the deep end, bat shit crazy. Some of the funniest bits in there are also some of the most graphically gory ones. Watch out, these next sentences may have spoilers in them. When the director steps on a land mine and gets blown to bits, I thought I was going to pee myself I was laughing so hard! Of course I was the only one in the theater laughing at the geyser of blood coming from the dude’s head in the opening scene, but that set the tone for the film I think and was totally hilarious. Then there was the bit where Morton… I mean Robert Downey Jr. takes Jerry… I mean Ben Stiller’s “hands” in the rescue scene. See, Morton pulls up these two prosthetic arms with no hands, just flaps of skin opened up like flower petals, as Jerry is telling him, “When we get back to the world, I'm going to teach you how to juggle.” Hilarious! I almost forgot the baby hanging from the back of the running Jerry Stiller’s neck, stabbing him in the shoulder, then getting flung off the bridge like a giant meaty throwing star! It was almost poo yourself funny. The introduction of the in-film actors is done in a cool way too. They show the commercial for Alpa Chino’s energy drink “Booty Sweat” followed by movie trailers. Jack Black’s trailer for the “Fatties” film franchise has him doing multiple “Eddie Murphy” type roles a la “The Nutty Professor” films. It was quite amoosing. Jerry Stiller is a “Rambo” sort of action hero cashing in on one successful film with multiple sequel deals. As John pointed out, he is funniest when doing parodies of himself and it worked in this one. Morton Downey Jr. plays one of those “total immersion” method actors who has to get into the skin, almost literally in this film, of the character he’s playing. He has cosmetic surgery performed to change his skin pigment making him “black” for the in-film film, “Tropic Thunder.” This, of course, causes friction between him and the actual black actor, the aforementioned Alpa Chino. When Morton Downey Jr. tries to connect with Alpa Chino by reciting the lyrics to the “Jeffersons” theme song… well, it would have been funnier had I not seen it in a trailer for the movie. Anyhoo, Morton Downey Jr.’s trailer was for a “forbidden love between monks” thing costarring Toby McGuire which was funny, but only in that “Psh, you’ll never catch me at that chick flick” sort of way. Now, even with literal fountains of blood, “flowering” severed-hand arm stumps, a dude trying to keep his intestines in (at one point he holds up some internal organ and shouts, “What is this? Where should this go?” or something like that), and a guy’s severed head getting slapped around and kicked like a soccer ball, the thing that gave me the most discomfort was Morton Downey Jr.’s blue contact lenses when he wasn’t being the black guy. Jack Black’s graphic description of a blow-job was unsettling, but nowhere near as uncomfortable for me as the contacts. I think I'll be buying this one when it comes out on DVD. Hell, I might go see it in the theater again! So, in conclusion, go see “Tropic Thunder” right now. Shut off your computer and go see it. Quit your job and go see it. Leave your spouse and children and go see it. Ok, don’t quit your job or abandon your family, but go see it! It is the most significant and influential, film of all time! But I don’t want to over sell it.