Daily Info, Oxford

Tropic Thunder [15]

Vue Cinema

Actors in a war film are dropped into a real-life combat situation.

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Minor correction to the review below: Etan Cohen was a co-writer here, not Ethan Coen. A very significant difference. The other key writer was Justin Theroux, sometime Gap model and male lead of Mulholland Drive and Charlie's Angles: Full Throttle.

But, please, let's not expect any input from a Coen Brother here.

Brendon Connelly, 23/09/08


This is great stuff!

Tropic Thunder apears to be, if you listen to the press releases coming out of Hollywood, a bit of a labour of love for Ben Stiller. He originally got the seeds of the idea while playing a 'bit part' in Steven Speilberg's epic Empire of the Sun. It has since developed from there with the help of no less than Ethan Coen on the screenplay.

I enjoyed almost every minute of it!

Wonderful performances come from almost every corner - Stiller, Black and Downey Jr (who apparantly has caused a little controversy for the role in the US. I wonder if the same people had things to say about the awful comedy White Chicks by the Wyans brothers) are all excellent. As are the supporting cast and some fantatstic cameos!

The story itself works better on screen than it does on paper, the laughs come thick and fast, it is beautifully shot and the soundtrack has that awesome Vietnam Movie feel to it.

I would recomend any movie fan to see this film. It successfully pokes fun at itself and Hollywood in a great way and the number of AA-list cameos merely goes to prove that Stiller must be one of the most popular men in Hollywood.

Ed Blagrove, 21/09/08



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