(16) Solo movie

Ok folks, I'm back from seeing "Tropic Thunder." Like I mentioned before, Chris and I tend not to see comedies in the theater unless it's with a group and I think I've established that I shouldn't see a comedy by myself ever again. It didn't help that I was one of 5 people so there were some heavier chuckles at the obvious jokes and then for the more subtle jokes, a couple of us would laugh and vice versa. I think it made it harder for me to get into it because I was still getting used to the fact that there was nobody else sitting next to me who I could look over to and laugh or comment on something.

Overall, I'll give this movie a solid B. The beginning dragged on for me, comedy-wise, so it took a little longer to really laugh at stuff, but the funny kicked in more towards the end. To sum up, this movie was about a group of actors re-enacting jungle fight scenes and it was turning into this huge flop with this idiot director. Then, to make the movie more authentic, it was suggested that the director just drop the actors in the middle of this jungle with some strategically placed explosives and cameras in the trees. The actors would then follow the directions and map to make sure they followed along the camera line and explosives would go off as they "acted" out the script. Well, let's just say it goes awry and some of them get captured by this drug processing establishment in the middle of the jungle and the rest of them have to get them out.

The humor was a little rough at times for the easily offended, but I'm not one of those people. :) The following was one of the funnier moments for me because it was so ridiculous. Kirk (Robert Downey Jr.) is trying to explain to Tugg (Ben Stiller) that he shouldn't have made the supposed flop movie "Simple Jack" about a "full" mentally retarded person because that never wins awards.

Kirk Lazarus: Everybody knows you never go full retard.
Tugg Speedman: What do you mean?
Kirk Lazarus: Check it out. Dustin Hoffman, 'Rain Man,' look retarded, act retarded, not retarded. Counted toothpicks, cheated cards. Autistic, sho'. Not retarded. You know Tom Hanks, 'Forrest Gump.' Slow, yes. Retarded, maybe. Braces on his legs. But he charmed the pants off Nixon and won a ping-pong competition. That ain't retarded. Peter Sellers, "Being There." Infantile, yes. Retarded, no. You went full retard, man. Never go full retard. You don't buy that? Ask Sean Penn, 2001, "I Am Sam." Remember? Went full retard, went home empty handed...

Oh, and the soundtrack was pretty good, but also your typical cliche 70's classic rock war-esque music (Creedence, Stones, etc). A lot of the same songs from "Forrest Gump" for the war scenes, but it worked. Oh, and a few rap songs thrown in... I'll leave you with this screenshot of Tom Cruise and you can imagine him gettin' down to Ludacris' "Get Back" during the credits.