Tropic Thunder Review

The comedy event of the summer has just been released, it's not playing in my town and I don't have a car. Only one thing for it; bike to the next town, 10 miles west. Yup, I really wanted to see it.

Even after 45 minutes of solid biking, I was still an hour and half early for the first showing at 2:00 PM. So grabbing a 20 oz Vault, I sat down in the cinema lobby to balance my finances.

Finally, with over a half hour before the opening trailers (once upon a time they were shown after the film, hence the name), I entered the theater to hear the speakers blasting the rock top 100, and to see a 50 year old man talking to himself. No one else was in the theater. At last, at nearly 10 of, the crowd started trickling in. All were either 50 or 18... no exaggeration and only two were women. Yeah, it's that kind of movie. To the relief of all, the reel kicked in a minute before 2:00, and even before the opening credits rolled the audience was in stitches. Two words: hill-ARIOUS! (It's a joke. I know that it's not two...nevermind.)

In order to give you an idea of what "Tropic Thunder" is like, I'm going to throw out some movie titles. Here's the break-down: take the war scenes and swearing from "We Were Soldiers" and "Saving Private Ryan," throw in some MTV celebrity gossip and the nutty satire of "Dr. Strangelove," then add Ben Stiller's wacky sense of humor and every explotion from every action movie that you've ever watched. Put 'em together and what have you got? Bibbity, bobbity-- "Tropic Thunder"!

Five actors with big problems are about to make the biggest Vietnam war movie since "Apocalypse Now." There are just two small problems: they find it almost impossible to work with each other and then when a $4 million dollar explosion is detonated when the cameras aren't even rolling, it appears that the film is sunk. That is until the director and screenwriter decide to dump the hopeless actors in the middle of the real Vietnam. Things don't go as planned and one of the troop ends up getting kidnapped by drug-lords. His only hope is for his fellow cast members to man up and preform the greatest rescue in Hollywood history.

Sadly, this is yet another film on which my opinions differ drastically from Focus on the Family; right up there with "The Matrix," "Fight Club" and "V for Vendetta." There is plenty for Christians to hate, from the opening scenes of extreme violence to the f-words scattered throughout the script to the very minor homosexual plot line. The legalists are going to have a field-day with this one. So I will do my best to point out what the film gets right.

I'll sum it up very simply, friendship. This movie's leading theme is friendship. Through thick and thin, hell and high water and no matter what your differences, you have got to stick it out. The ending of the film (which I won't spoil) more than makes up for the silliness at the beginning.

So as I rode back home, I thought of three things: 1) How sad it is that a great film will yet again be completely rejected Christians... again. 2) That I will be spending the next year, at least, with four other guys who I might not agree with all the time, but to make it out of college alive, we're going to have to work together and stick up for one another. Over the next four months, friends will be a invaluable commodity. And 3) WOW! Are my legs sore!

4 out of 5, for sure!

Till next time,

Scott