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In a strong recent stretch of comedies, Tropic Thunder is the best ... SPOILERS

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Simon_Cowbell, Jul 29, 2008.

  1. RossLT

    RossLT Guest

    I saw Tropic Thunder the night it came out, it was amazing. One of the best comedies I have seen in a long time.
     
  2. bostonbred

    bostonbred Guest

    Easily the funniest movie of 2008 thus far. Fucking tremendous. Blew the mediocre Pineapple Express, which I saw before it, out of the water. Some tremendous performances...I loved Jack Black going through heroin withdrawals, Ben Stiller as a failed and lonely sequel action "star", Cruise in a hairy fatsuit swearing and screaming. Nolte and McConaughey were hilarious as well.

    And Downey was just fucking brilliant. The Jeffersons bit had me on the floor. His interactions with Jackson were top-notch.

    Go see it now. And get there early, because a few faux trailers begin the film unannounced...they are all absolutely hysterical. Tobey McGuire rules.
     
  3. ArnoldBabar

    ArnoldBabar Active Member

    Saw it today and loved it. So many big laughs. When Lance Bass showed up next to Alpha at the Oscars I almost fell out of my chair.

    I think this was a great career move for Cruise. He was badly in need of some positive exposure and this showed he can lighten up and be funny.
     
  4. JakeandElwood

    JakeandElwood Well-Known Member

    I thought it was hilarious. And I agree with ArnoldBabar. I actually think Cruise stole the show.
     
  5. Simon_Cowbell

    Simon_Cowbell Active Member

    I love at the end when he and Hader talk about saving Speedman's career with art-imitating-life oozing from the scene.
     
  6. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Tropic Thunder > The Dark Knight

    Unlike many comedies, this is a movie all the way through, not a bunch of skits strung together. Homages to so many movies -- Apocalypse Now, Rambo, Close Encounters, Risky Business. Plenty more that I missed. Great performances by all. The characters are all over the top, but not played with over-the-top performances. My favorite part was when Stiller threw the kid off the bridge.

    Crowd much, much younger than I thought. Lots and lots of high schoolers. Didn't think this movie would skew that way.
     
  7. Simon_Cowbell

    Simon_Cowbell Active Member

    Platoon, also, obviously. Saving Private Ryan, too.
     
  8. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    I even saw an homage to Deep Blue Sea.
     
  9. CentralIllinoisan

    CentralIllinoisan Active Member

    A few observations from the film

    ... Ben Stiller is a talented director, who can string together a pretty effective narrative. I am one of about a dozen people who felt The Cable Guy was one of the funniest films of all time.

    ... Robert Downey Jr.'s performance was on another level from most comedic ventures. In the vein of Sasha Baron Cohen from Talladega Nights, but so much better. How many guys give fully formed comedic performances now days? They are few and far between. Check out Downey's work in the final 15 minutes, when he pulls off the wig and takes out the contacts. For Downey to play all the layers so well ... was extraordinary.

    ... Jack Black was pitch-perfect. His manic behavior was reined in correctly and distilled into a few, well-written scenes.

    ... Tom Cruise was funny and unexpected, but also a little over the top.

    Very funny movie I will see again ... and I can't wait for the Sargent Osiris DVD commentary :)
     
  10. bostonbred

    bostonbred Guest

    Only a little over-the-top?

    And I liked Cable Guy, but this was clearly much, much better.
     
  11. CentralIllinoisan

    CentralIllinoisan Active Member

    Well, more over the top than I expected, I should say. The dancing at the end was a bit much.

    And we can argue all day about the Cable Guy. That film is criminally under appreciated. Hard to compare the two films, because Tropic goes for a much more wild, comedic bent than the more darkly tinted Cable Guy.
     
  12. ArnoldBabar

    ArnoldBabar Active Member

    That performance exists for the sole purpose of being over the top. That's the whole point of it. It would have been almost impossible to overplay.
     
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