Tropic Thunder: or "how I learned to stop worrying and love the action/comedy"

So I just finished my very own private screening of "Tropic Thunder" before the midnight show even hit the screen.  This is my first real advance show as a projectionist, and i have to say:  I got a real kick out of walking out and seeing a huge line of people anxious to be the first people to see it.  Yeah.... I'm the coolest guy on the internet right now.  

Now let's get down to brass tax.  I normally am the kind of guy who hates reflexivity in film.  And "Tropic Thunder" is as reflexive as it gets.  This film is about the fake making of a fake war movie about a fake book.  Deep, right?  But i gotta say there were things about this film that hit the right notes with me.    

The things I love about this film is the cheap shots it takes at Big Hollywood.  They make fun of just about every rung of the production ladder.  No one is safe.  They even go as far as Tom Cruise's producer character (we'll get to him in a moment) telling a grip to punch the director in the face.  Brilliant.  I also really like the idea of a bunch of prima-donna actors in the jungle, armed with nothing but hundreds of rounds of blanks and their acting resumes. 

The real buzz about this film is the ballsy low blows it takes.  First of all you have Robert Downey Jr. playing the Mel Gibson method-actor as a black guy.  This was a really awesome performance.  Never once does he break character, which is consequently a character who never breaks character (as i said before... this thing oozes with reflexivity.) 

But the real big 'gasp' is Ben Stiller's character's role as a retarded farm hand.  There are so many people protesting this film right now saying things like "You can't make fun of retarded people... or say words like 'retarded.'"  But what they fail to see is the real target of the joke.  the target isn't the mentally handicapped (or whatever ballsless term it is now), the target is Big Hollywood.  This film makes fun of the fact that actors and producers feel the need to legitimize themselves by playing the lowest common denominator.  It shows Hollywood as the soulless void it really is.  And that is a very refreshing thing to see from a major production company.  kudos.  

now on to Tom Cruise's role (yes, I said I'd get back to this).  Cruise plays this weird, asshole producer character that is the weird hybrid of Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg, and Tom Cruise in by far the weirdest damn fat suit I've ever seen in my life.  He has these weird, rubbery monkey arms and fake man boobs... what is that about?   

I thoroughly enjoyed this film.  It is going down as one of the very few films that have made me enjoy reflexivity.  It also is the second action/comedy film in two weeks.  It leaves me hoping for something a little different next week.  hopefully we'll get something good. . . probably not.