Tropic Thunder
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A group of self-absorbed actors set out to make the most expensive war film ever. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys.
What critics thought
Tropic Thunder lands as a broadly well-received but genuinely uneven satire — sharp enough in places to win over most critics, yet consistently accused of coasting on easy gags and smug self-satisfaction. Downey Jr.'s performance as a method actor in blackface became the film's most-discussed element, drawing both rapturous praise and pointed moral objections, while controversy over its treatment of intellectual disability added another layer of division that critics couldn't agree on.
“Apart from startling, out-there comic turns by Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise, however, the antics here are pretty thin, redundant and one-note.”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
“There are some wildly funny scenes, a few leaden ones and others that are scattershot, with humorous satire undercut by over-the-top grisliness. Still, when it's funny, it's really funny.”
Claudia Puig·USA Today
“The rest of the movie never lives up to the hilarity of the opening, partly because the large-scale production smothers the gags but mostly because those gags are so easy to smother.”
J.R. Jones·Chicago Reader
“Tropic Thunder is the funniest movie of the summer—so funny, in fact, that you start laughing before the film itself has begun.”
David Ansen·Newsweek
“the film is just sophomoric enough to offend. And while it is also funny, it is without the empathy or compassion to cause us to wonder why we are laughing.”
Duane Dudek·Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Accolades
Genres
Action, Comedy, War
Cast & Crew
Ben StillerDirectorBen StillerTugg Speedman
Robert Downey Jr.Kirk Lazarus
Jack BlackJeff Portnoy
Jay BaruchelKevin Sandusky
Brandon T. JacksonAlpa Chino
Brandon Soo HooTran
Matthew McConaugheyRick Peck
Tom CruiseLes Grossman
Nick NolteFour Leaf Tayback
Danny McBrideCody
Steve CooganDamien Cockburn
Bill HaderRob Slolom
Theodore ShapiroComposer
Justin TherouxWriter
Etan CohenWriter
John TollCinematographyTropic Thunder
A group of self-absorbed actors set out to make the most expensive war film ever. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys.
What critics thought
Tropic Thunder lands as a broadly well-received but genuinely uneven satire — sharp enough in places to win over most critics, yet consistently accused of coasting on easy gags and smug self-satisfaction. Downey Jr.'s performance as a method actor in blackface became the film's most-discussed element, drawing both rapturous praise and pointed moral objections, while controversy over its treatment of intellectual disability added another layer of division that critics couldn't agree on.
“Apart from startling, out-there comic turns by Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise, however, the antics here are pretty thin, redundant and one-note.”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
“There are some wildly funny scenes, a few leaden ones and others that are scattershot, with humorous satire undercut by over-the-top grisliness. Still, when it's funny, it's really funny.”
Claudia Puig·USA Today
“The rest of the movie never lives up to the hilarity of the opening, partly because the large-scale production smothers the gags but mostly because those gags are so easy to smother.”
J.R. Jones·Chicago Reader
“Tropic Thunder is the funniest movie of the summer—so funny, in fact, that you start laughing before the film itself has begun.”
David Ansen·Newsweek
“the film is just sophomoric enough to offend. And while it is also funny, it is without the empathy or compassion to cause us to wonder why we are laughing.”
Duane Dudek·Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Accolades
Genres
Action, Comedy, War
Cast & Crew
Ben StillerDirectorBen StillerTugg SpeedmanRobert Downey Jr.Kirk LazarusJack BlackJeff PortnoyJay BaruchelKevin SanduskyBrandon T. JacksonAlpa ChinoBrandon Soo HooTranMatthew McConaugheyRick PeckTom CruiseLes GrossmanNick NolteFour Leaf TaybackDanny McBrideCodySteve CooganDamien CockburnBill HaderRob SlolomTheodore ShapiroComposerJustin TherouxWriterEtan CohenWriterJohn TollCinematographyStream
Rent & Buy