Ben Stiller as a comedian is a household name, but Ben Stiller, the director, is yet to sink in, although with hit films like “The Cable Guy” and “Zoolander” to his credit, neither of them have drawn in strong acclaim from the critics. With “Tropic Thunder” however, things are likely to change. It features Ben Stiller and Justin Theroux doing the screen play and story for the film.
A large part of the movie is centered in a jungle environment where a group of people go to film a movie. The movie that they are filming, owing to a few interesting events turns out to be a real life adventure and not one staged for movie purposes. “Tropic Thunder” stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. in pivotal roles. There are also cameos here in the movie and one such cameo starring one of Hollywood’s leading superstars, who in the movie appears unrecognizable, is meant to be a total surprise for his fans. The title “Tropic Thunder” itself is a sign of things to expect in the movie, as the title is based on one of the infantry division names during the Vietnam War named “Tropic Lightning”. The film during its release drew a lot or controversy regarding its alleged demeaning of the disabled and repeated usage of the word “retard” by the movie’s protagonists. Further controversy was raised when Robert Downey Jr. a white man, was wearing make up in order to pass off as a black man. The movie was released during the Beijing Olympic games and had a below-par opening at $25 million, but it has been going strongly ever since, remaining steady and collecting close to $100 million so far in the US alone.
The movie was appreciated by several of the leading critics and by the looks of it Ben Stiller has managed to pull another rabbit out of the hat.