“Tropic Thunder” is a movie beyond words. But, I will try my best to express the essence of this movie in the limited medium that has been offered me. “Tropic Thunder” is a movie about a group of actors who are in a movie, “Tropic Thunder”, about a group of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. It is a movie that knows it is over the top and decides to just go ahead and break right through the ceiling. The movie features love and heartbreak, action and drama, comedy and fear, joy and sadness. Of special note is Robert Downy Jr. playing the indelible character of Kirk Lazarus, a method actor who himself plays Sergeant Lincoln Osiris in the “Tropic Thunder” movie within the movie. The frame movie also features Ben Stiller as the washed up star playing a squad group leader, Jack Black as the coke-addicted comedy actor playing an explosives expert, Brandon Jackson as rapper Alpa Chino playing a member of the squad, and finally Jay Baruchel as Kevin Sandusky playing a supporting character for the movie. The film-within-a-film’s director tries his best to control the unruly actors, but finds his job marred by their own perceived self-importance and his limited experience at directing. He eventually decides, with the help of the hook-handed writer of the book that the intra-movie “Tropic Thunder” is based on, to send the actors into the jungle to improvise the rest of the movie and make it natural. What happens next is an ingenious combination of wit, action, and determination as the group encounters Vietcong, rice paddy farmers, and even a rouge panda. “Tropic Thunder” will delight and amaze all who watch it and, if you can, be sure to watch the version the actors provide commentary in character, and some in their character’s character.
Altabet is a member of
the class of 2017.
