TROPIC THUNDER

TROPIC THUNDER has moments of brilliance when making fun of Hollywood. A handful of quotes:

"I don't read the script, the script reads me."

"A nutless monkey could do your job."

"Everybody knows you never go full retard."

"It's Hollywood, man! Everyone turns gay at some point!"

But this movie takes itself way too seriously. At two and a half hours long, which is a good hour too long for the material. It devolves into more of an action film than a comedy in the last act. It's a beautifully shot by John Toll, but who cares, it's a comedy. They could have shot it on a soundstage and the jokes would have been just as funny. Seems like an awful lot of money went to waste here.

The performances are great, especially Tom Cruise, who earned his own spinoff movie. However, the Oscar nomination for Robert Downey Jr. was wildly misplaced. He's funny, but there's not much real acting here, just a lot of funny lines from a guy in blackface.

Still, for people in the industry, it's a must-see.