Trailer Trash: Tropic Thunder

The making of a Vietnam War film with Robert Downey Jr. as an actor in blackface. Why isn’t this trailer funnier?

I’m having trouble putting my finger on exactly why this trailer is so mediocre when it clearly should kick so much ass. Maybe it’s because the plot is a little too close to The Three Amigos. Maybe because it strays dangerously close to really-bad-movie-parody-land (see: Epic Movie, Date Move, and so on). Or maybe it’s because Ben Stiller is completely devoid of talent. (editor's note: Yes, he is.)

Ok, so Cable Guy is pretty good. But I’ll tell you why: Ben Stiller doesn’t try to be funny. When it comes to comedy, Ben Stiller always looks like he’s trying too hard, like the guy at work who tell his jokes really loud because he thinks the reason you’re not laughing is because you can’t hear him.

Jack Black is even worse. The weird thing about Jack Black is that he’s actually pretty funny in Indie movies. But put him in a Studio film, and he turns into a cross between Chris Farley and the Hamburglar.

The Robert Downey Jr. as a fake black guy part of the trailer does look pretty funny, especially the scene at the end when he starts quoting The Jeffersons theme song to the other black guy. You can really see why all those D.W. Griffith movies used blackface. Because it’s funny! What do you bet that this is the only good part of the movie?

If nothing else, shit blows up good and proper in this preview. That should be worth at least $200 million at the box office. I also hear that there are all sorts of crazy cameos, like Tom Cruise and that hippie guy that always takes his shirt off. I bet the Tom Cruise part is funny, too. Have you seen The Last Samurai? The man knows funny.