Hollywood Spoof And Some Issues Sum Up Tropic Thunder

In these times of war, when audiences turn away from hard-core war movies, Tropic Thunder provides just the right balance of action-comedy. This pet project of Ben Stiller is a no-holds-barred spoof on Hollywood where the actors set out to make a movie on the Vietnam War but land up in a real crisis instead.

The reel war turns real, what with the drug mafia descending on the film crew in the dangerous jungles of Hawaii suspecting them to be US drug enforcement agents, and things go haywire from there.

Apt characterization by the cast of Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey, and Nick Nolte is one of the many plusses of this movie released Wednesday. Like most Stiller movies, this one too is expected to do well at the box office.

Tom Cruise in a cameo as a rude and lewd studio head is a treat to watch while Black is good as the comedy superstar tripping on heroin, Jeff "Fats" Portnoy.

Stiller who developed the concept of the movie over a decade, is co-producer, co-director and actor in the part of a prima donna named Speedman. Speaking about the movie, Stiller says, "It was so long in the gestation process that by the time we were making this movie I was so excited just to be there. It's the most enjoyable thing I've ever done."

Tropic Thunder mocks a slew of cult Hollywood war films, including cult offerings like Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter, Platoon, Hamburger Hill, and Full Metal Jacket.

"Those were all movies I grew up watching and was very affected by," Stiller says. "I enjoyed getting in there and watching them while getting ready for this movie. But this is really a comedy and lives in its own place. I think sometimes, in times of war, people want escapism, too."

Tropic Thunder also explores serious issues like identity crisis as faced in the film by the Oscar-winning Australian in Hollywood named Kirk Lazarus played by Robert Downey Jr. The character, who dyes his skin black for the role, forgets himself completely.

According to Black, Tropic Thunder is also a comment about ‘Racism in the movie industry, homophobia in the movie industry, and drug addiction, and all these lines you're not supposed to cross when you're making a movie.’

Making Tropic Thunder was no cakewalk, though. “Oh, there were some hard days. It rained every day. We shot in a raging river. And then there was the beginning of the movie with the war action scenes. After the copters and bullets, I'm in handcuffs as my character, my hands tied behind my back, and I have to say, 'Cut.' It was a pretty big day at work," says Stiller.

For Stiller, 43, whose resume includes impressive hits like last year's Night at the Museum, directing is his dream career.

This is not his directorial debut, though. His earlier work behind the camera includes Reality Bites (1994), The Cable Guy (1996), and Zoolander (2001).

Stiller says, “Since I was about 10 or 11, I wanted to be a director. I always thought that's what I would end up doing later on when I wasn't acting anymore, because you never know where an acting career will go.

"Don't get me wrong. I love acting, too. But directing is much more fulfilling as a creative process,” Stiller adds.