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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: November 18, 2008 Distributor: Dreamworks Video Director: · Ben Stiller Cast: · Ben Stiller · Jack Black · Robert Downey Jr. Grade: C+

I popped in the "Tropic Thunder" DVD with very high expectations and hopes. I dreamed of another visit to "Zoolander". And for ten to twenty minutes I was appeased. However, as things moved along I realized the folly of my hopes.

"Tropic Thunder" is a spoof of war films from the past 25-30 years. Starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and Jack Black, this movie mixes all of the stereotypes you'd come to expect from a modern war movie in a comedic coating. Stiller portrays Tugg Speedman, an action star at the bottom of his career hoping for a restart. Downey is Kirk Lazarus, an acclaimed actor that changes his skin pigment to bring to life a black man in the middle of the suck. Finally, Black is Jeff Portnoy, an amalgamation of Eddie Murphy and Chris Farley; a fat doped up actor who dresses up in fat suits and passes gas quite a bit.

These three characters are part of a five man movie star platoon that progress from shooting a fake Vietnam war movie to really being stranded in the jungle. The boys are struggling with an incredibly over-budget mess of a movie, and their director, portrayed by Steve Coogan, lets them loose in the jungle to survive for themselves. Eventually through hi-jinks and hilarity, the boys get through the jungle and make a movie worth seeing.

Because this was Ben Stiller's directorial follow-up to "Zoolander", I fully expected to see one of the funniest movies of the year. Instead, "Tropic Thunder" wound up as almost one of the funniest movies of the year. "Tropic Thunder" struggles to straddle the line between slapstick silliness and believable semi-drama. When it is funny, it is hysterical. Unfortunately, it isn't funny often enough and tries to be serious far too often. This would have been fine if the serious portions would have been remotely believable, but they weren't. Movies like "Knocked Up" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" have proven that smart comedies don't have to abandon drama to just be silly.

As far as the performances go, Stiller has the toughest job because his character is dumb as rocks but is not funny as he should be. While in "Zoolander", Stiller's character was also dumb as rocks, he was also the central instigator of the majority of the movie's comedy. In "Tropic Thunder," because the movie is more of an ensemble cast, Stiller's character is still in the center, he's just not really much of instigator. There are brief (and entertaining) glimpses of his performance in "Zoolander," but they are ultimately fleeting.

While Ben Stiller portrays the central character, Jack Black is barely even in this movie. Black really seems to be lost in this movie, existing more as a name on a movie poster and face for the trailer than as a helpful performance. There was only one moment when I really enjoyed Black's performance and that was in a fake trailer at the beginning. "Fatties: Fart Two" is featured as a fake trailer and Black does such a great job lampooning Eddie Murphy that I want to see this fake movie made for real. Unfortunately, this is Black's only real worthwhile scene in the movie and from there on things are pretty much downhill.

Finally, from the three key players, Robert Downey Jr. has the most interesting performance to watch. Because Downey really does don makeup so that he appears black he cannot afford to commit to being too unrealistic or stereotypical. If, in this performance, Downey comes across as remotely stereotypical, charges of racism and insensitivity will bring the whole movie crashing down. And despite Downey's excellent work here, that might be the core problem with this movie. Because, for sensitivity's sake, Downey can't be a slapstick goof-off, his character contradicts the other players involved. He sticks out like a sore thumb because he is so very good; he's just a puzzle piece that won't fit the puzzle.

The other actors are all across the map. While I enjoyed Jay Baruchel and Brandon Jackson as the other two platoon members, Matthew McConaughey and Tom Cruise were not as lucky. These two prominent actors (Cruise and McConaughey) have plenty of opportunities for laughs but they never seem to pop. While McConaughey's role is meant to be more quirk than comedy, Cruise squanders a great opportunity to steal the show. Every scene that Cruise is in is obviously a platform for the actor to dispel the audience's belief that he is a stiff unfunny guy. Unfortunately, he still comes across as a stiff and unfunny guy. Other performances by Nick Nolte, Steve Coogan, and Danny McBride, have their moments but never rank incredibly high.

Despite my problems with the uneven characters, the look of the film is completely up to snuff. Shot in Hawaii, the sets have an amazing character to them and give the movie an element of believability that most spoof movies do not. Not once did I feel that I was watching a movie shot in Hollywood on a backlot. The movie looks gorgeous on DVD, which a movie making light of war movies really needs to be.

Overall, I will never deny that "Tropic Thunder" is a hysterical concept. Unfortunately, making a movie like this can be incredibly complicated. Because the characters seem to be playing on differing levels that fail to match up, it lost me too frequently. I really had high hopes and they were dashed after I realized that this comedy is not much better than most of what Stiller does.

First up on the Special Features are two commentaries about the movie. If you have to watch either, my preference was the actors' commentary. It isn't funny from start to finish but it is at least more interesting than the boring crew commentary. Other Special features include tons of mini-featurettes about shooting, casting, and creating the movie. Also included are the mini-mockumentary "Rain of Madness" and some webisodes for that mockumentary. Finally, look for a feature on the creation of Tom Cruise's make-up; as well as, a section called Full Mags which includes full-length improv scenes that eventually get edited down for the movie. My favorite feature is the Full Mags section specifically "Choose A Dude" and "Laz at a Campfire". Both of these scenes are very funny and educational at the same time. Overall, this DVD is filled to the brim with extras. While all of them don't hit the mark, for the most part you should be entertained.