Friday evenings come with difficult choices in our household. The two most important happen to be (1) What are we going to eat? and (2) What are we going to watch? For two people as different as we there is rarely an obvious choice for either. We review the choices, talk about them, and review again. Until recently, the outcome has often been pizza and some movie we both like but have seen 10 million times.
But Joseph - I give him the credit for this change - has recently made the decision that he would like to experiment with some cooking. We have therefore moved away from Papa Murphy's and towards new and exciting meals. This past weekend, we enjoyed fajitas.
As for what we watch we have been better about choosing movies. Since we don't rent and often purchase, we must ensure that the movies are ones that one or both of us will watch again. Firewall? Poor purchase. The Dark Knight? Over and over and over again.
This weekend, we both decided to go for a recently well-acclaimed movie in Tropic Thunder. A few friends recommended it. "You'll like the line 'Don't go full 'tard' Ashley remarked to us." And so, we purchased it at Costco and let roll the tape. Well, actually, the disc, but who's counting?
The movie, rated R, commences with a few 'over the top' trailers starring the likes of Downey Jr's, Black's, and Stiller's characters. Three entirely different Hollywood stars who, as luck would have it, are going to star together in the film Tropic Thunder. The movie - based on a book of the same name - is a Vietnam War film akin to Platoon and replete with ridiculous gore and lengthy explosions.
When the actors on the film prove to be a bunch of egotistical prima donnas, the director along with the special effects guy and the author of the book, Tropic Thunder decide to plop the actors - unbeknownst to them - into the wilds of Vietnam where they - the actors - happen to encounter a real threat in the persons of heroin dealers.
Along the way, the movie takes any number of pot shots at Hollywood with its premature explosions, commentary on acting as a mentally handicapped person, and unnecessary sequels. Not to mention the greed and insensitivity of the likes of Tom Cruise as Les Grossman, a part that has him nominated for a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor.
In my eyes, the movie was better than average but by no means great. Unlike the Scary Movie franchise and others of that sort, this movie attempts a drier humor with more subtlety. And that works, at times. But at others, it feels like it's too subtle for those who wouldn't describe themselves as rabid movie watchers. It just tries too hard.
If I'm being honest, that's how I feel about Ben Stiller on the whole. He's a 'funny man' who just tries too hard to be funny. It takes too much effort for him and thus he breaks that contract of suspended disbelief between the character and the audience. I suppose manic for me just isn't funny.
Downey Jr and Black are funnier in their characters, to be certain. But even they try too hard. And that's most likely because they were following the direction of Ben Stiller himself.
A final note, this movie reminds me of the movie Mars Attacks that proved to be a box office flop. Replete with well known actors, the movie was one big inside joke. Though Tropic Thunder cannot necessarily be called an inside joke per se, it still went a bit over my head.
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