The bulk of this movie, alas, comes down to weak sketches held together by ridiculous action, vast explosions and more or less everything else it should be parodying.

| Jan 27, 2018

Given the incoherence of its satirical aspirations (the film does end with a suggestion that everyone involved still loves this business we call show), and finally too scattershot to really make it as parody, Tropic Thunder is best appreciated as a goof.

| Dec 13, 2017

| Original Score: B+ | Feb 18, 2012

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

The tension between what the film says and what the film does helps support one of a dozen (or so) layers of snarky, self-aware humour.

| Oct 18, 2008

Tiptoes to the fine line between irony and insight and blows it to smithereens. It's hilarious.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Oct 18, 2008

Though some of the caricatures wear thin, some of the acting rises to a high level.

| Oct 18, 2008

Tropic Thunder gives us exactly what we expect of it - lashings of easy fun, spare-no-expense action, actors delightedly pushing the boat out in all-out parody and a dig at the absurdity of Hollywood that the big boys back in LA will find quite comforting

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 19, 2008

You may think I'm being a spoilsport but I'm doing you a favour by lowering your expectations. Get the beers in first and Tom Cruise jive-dancing to T-Pain's Lo in a hairy fat suit may well be the funniest thing you've seen that evening.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 19, 2008

The Hollywood comedy Tropic Thunder comes at us like a mad army cresting a hill, intent on audience massacre. My advice: shoot first and don't wait for the whites of their eyes.

| Sep 19, 2008

A movie about a fake movie has the truest laughs of the summer.

| Original Score: B+ | Sep 19, 2008

Tropic Thunder is, almost necessarily, a hit-and-miss affair. Its targets certainly seem dated. But it's hard not to warm to a film in which a character's cry of "I can't feel my leg" earns the reply "Ain't nothing but a thang."

| Sep 19, 2008

This is cheap rum. The Apocalypse Now pyrotechnics clearly cost a fortune. But the pleasures of Tropic Thunder are spread as thinly as Ben Stiller. He not only stars, he directs, co-writes, produces, and undoubtedly made the tea.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 19, 2008

But its better moments of self-referential snark, such as an ace cameo from Tom Cruise as an obnoxious studio exec, have the feel of a superior end-of-term revue.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/6 | Sep 19, 2008

There are moments of comedy grandeur, but this isn't as consistently funny as you'd hope. Nevertheless, Downey Jr.'s Kirk Lazarus is instantly up there with the comedy greats.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 19, 2008

For years now, onscreen and off, [Tom] Cruise has seemed like a bottle of barely contained crazy; now we know what happens when the cork comes out.

| Sep 18, 2008

Stiller never stops bombarding the audience with outrageous ideas, like a monkey throwing dung at a wall.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 29, 2008

In the end, despite its flaws, this is a genuinely funny film, and there aren't that many of those around.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 29, 2008

Big budget, big stars, big concept -- surprisingly little payoff.

| Original Score: C | Aug 25, 2008

Ben Stiller's confidence as a director is growing; this is comedy on a grand scale, with huge effects and a big cast.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 22, 2008