Tropic Thunder

Ben Stiller's satirical look at Hollywood, Tropic Thunder concerns the production of an epic Vietnam War film that quickly derails thanks to the giant egos of everyone involved in the production. Stiller stars as Tugg Speedman, an action hero trying to segue out of that genre. Jack Black plays Jeff ...more

Ben Stiller often rests his comedic laurels on parodying ridiculous elements of various industries, whether the egotism of male models (Zoolander) or the crazed competitive nature of professional sportsmen (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story). A staple of MTV Movie Awards shorts (his most notable appearance as Tom Crooze, the overzealous stunt double of the actual Tom Cruise), Stiller has an inarguable knack for lampooning celebrity, often in a self-derisive manner. Maintaining the spirit of the ...more

Ben Stiller's biggest problem as a director has been that his material has never quite been worthy of his obvious ambition. But in Tropic Thunder, a satire about the insecurity and immaturity of movie stars, which he co-wrote with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen, Stiller's obvious comfort and confidence in the material grounds the film so firmly that, for the first time, his directorial ambitions can flourish. The premise is that five actors -- three of them international superstars -- are ...more

Tropic Thunder
Nominee - 81st Oscars®:
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Robert Downey, Jr.