By Ryan Parsons | Image property of DreamWorks, AICN
Tropic Thunder
Since I can't wait for any one of the three R-rated comedies looking to close out the summer, I have been tracking their screening reports closely. While Step Brothers due to arrive this week, it is Tropic Thunder that seems to have been seen by more people.
Tropic Thunder Screening Report
The good people at AICN have posted another review for Tropic Thunder that is not only positive, but claims the film has big huevos. And I'm not talking the kind you can make over-easy.
Of course I adore nearly all of the R-rated works of Judd Apatow and his band of merry men, but even at their most screamingly gross and daring, they are still relatively safe films about a group of men and women that I'd like to be friends with. TROPIC THUNDER is an entirely different monster, and when I say the film has balls, I'm talking about work that is taking comedic chances with high-powered actors, many of whom have had a great deal of success in movies catering to younger audiences.
One name I haven't dropped yet is Brandon T. Jackson, the guy in the cast who was actually born black. He plays rapper Alpa Chino (say the name out loud, you'll get it), and the man has got a genuine sense of comic timing. More importantly, it's his presence in the film that makes Downey's character look all the more ridiculous. There's a reason exchanges between Jackson and Downey are a big part of every TROPIC THUNDER trailer. The guy never lets Downey off the hook. Rounding out the fake film's cast of soldiers is Jay Baruchel (Seth Rogen's roommate in KNOCKED UP with the Canadian flag tattoo/cum target on his chest). He plays the young, untested actor Kevin Sandusky who most of the bigger stars ignore because he doesn't pull in a salary that ends in "million." He's the closest thing this movie has to a straight man, but it might be easier to understand his appeal if you picture a young Woody Allen in the middle of APOCALYPSE NOW.
The film's observations about the way modern Hollywood works and the personalities that make it work the way it does are delivered like a poison dart right in the neck. And from the moment the film begins (whatever you do, do not walk into this movie even 30 seconds late), I started laughing and hardly stopped.
The review does go pretty deep and yet remains spoiler free. You can check out the review for Tropic Thunderhere.
Tropic Thunder
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