Tropic Thunder
Tugg Speedman, an action movie star is experiencing a career slide. Tugg Speedman wants to be considered an actor of serious stature, but his recent role in the movie “Simple Jack”, as the lead character, was met with ridicule and negative reviews. Comedy legend Jeff Portnoy is most well-known for his roles as lead characters in comedy comedies that are sophomoric. He may also be known for using drugs to excess. Kirk Lazarus, five-time Oscar nominee, is an actor who takes on any role. They are stars in “Tropic Thunder”, which is set in Southeast Vietnam. It’s based on the memoirs of Vietnam war veteran Four Leaf Tayback about his rescue. This rescue was considered near-suicide for the army assigned force, and led to him losing both of his hands. Caucasian Australian Lazarus had to undergo controversial skin-death surgery in order to convincingly portray a black character. The production is not going according to plan as Damien Cockburn, a rookie director, is struggling with the prima-donna attitudes of his three main stars. Cockburn, Tayback and Lazarus decide that Speedman, Portnoy and Lazarus, as well as rapper Alpa Chino and newcomer Kevin Sandusky, should work as a team as their actual characters. They are given a map, their machine guns, and asked to cooperate to overcome the obstacles. They don’t know that the Flaming Dragons have dropped them into an actual drug war. Speedman is taken by Flaming Dragons, tortured and captured. This is when they realize what they thought was fake gunfire and landmines is actually true. All five actors go on their own self-discovery journeys as they try to decide what to do about Speedman’s circumstances. Speedman’s fellow movie-goer and megalomaniacal profanity-spreading producer Les Grossman, as well as Speedman’s loyal agent Rick Peck, argue over what Speedman should do. Tayback accidentally shows some of his real self. –Huggo
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, War
Director: Ben Stiller
Actors: Ben Stiller, Brandon T. Jackson, Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, Nick Nolte, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise
Country: Germany, United Kingdom, United States
