Last Updated on 12/4/2008

Published on 8/21/2008

"Tropic Thunder"

Starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Nick Nolte, Brandon T. Jackson

Though "Tropic Thunder," a blessedly un-PC, screamingly hilarious skewering of Hollywood egotism and moviemaking, is something of an ensemble piece, make no mistake: Robert Downey Jr. reigns supreme.

That's right -- no one comes close to topping Downey's work as pretentious, holier-than-thou Aussie Oscar winner Kirk Lazarus, who undergoes a skin pigmentation process to play African-American Sgt. Lincoln Osiris, a Vietnam sergeant leading his troops on a suicide mission. With every well-timed aside, every quip, Downey cuts to the quick of a painful truth in Tinsel Town: Directors will go to any ridiculous, offensive length to give big-name actors parts they aren't fit to play. And even if those actors know it, they'd rather take the paycheck -- or call it an opportunity for "artistic growth" -- than do the right thing.

Expect many more "insider" insights from Stiller, who sinks his teeth into every Hollywood cliché and gleefully tears it to shreds. This is his best work to date -- as an actor AND as a director. He starts by using a familiar device: the old "movie about a making movie" construct. Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, a Stallone-like actor who's made billions as an action star but sank his career playing a special needs boy in "Simple Jack." Hoping to revive his career, he joins an all-star cast -- including Lazarus, a five-time Oscar winner/method actor; Jeff Portnoy (Black), a smackhead famous for playing every member of a flatulent family; and Alpa Chino (Jackson), a rapper/mogul-turned-actor -- to make a movie about a hard-edged Vietnam sergeant (Nolte). But the director (Steve Coogan) gets fed up with his prima donna cast and drops them, "Apocalypse Now"-style, in hostile territory to make a "real war movie." And so the fun (and the hilarity) begins.

From start to finish, "Tropic Thunder" is wall-to-wall laughter. Stiller takes shots at everyone, from soulless Hollywood execs (prepare yourself for a wildly entertaining celeb cameo) to mindless acting agents (cue Matthew McConaughey) to spineless assistants (the dependably laconic Bill Hader). No one is safe, and "Thunder" is sure to offend everyone at least once.

But the sharp writing and performances give "Tropic Thunder" a ferocious comic punch. Stiller gets it right as a dumb actor who longs to play smart, and Black channels Chris Farley (plus extra profanity) as the junk-addicted, wild-eyed Portnoy. Jackson gives us a hip-hop star who's book-smart and street-smart in equal measure, and he serves up some of the movie's best insults (all aimed at Downey Jr., of course). And Downey, well, he continues a string of performances guaranteed to cement the accolades he earned for "Iron Man." It's top-notch work, and it's the pin in this explosively funny comedy.

Grade: A

"Vicky Cristina Barcelona"

Starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson

Long before "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Woody Allen's sexiest neuroticomedy (I'm coining the term) to date, some of us watched Cruz in Pedro Almodóvar's "Todo Sobre Mi Madre" and wondered if her stardom could survive translation.

With "Barcelona," we finally have our answer -- and it is a loud, resounding "claro que si" (English speakers, take that as a "yes").

As tortured, crazy-brilliant-beautiful painter Maria Elena, Cruz is a revelation. She simmers, then explodes like a wittier female Jackson Pollock, brandishing a loaded firearm instead of a half-empty liquor bottle. She lights up every frame of "Barcelona" like a Roman candle.

But let's put that brilliance into context: Cruz plays Maria Elena, the ex-wife of sensual, uninhibited Spanish painter Juan Antonio (a smokin' Bardem) who charms and seduces his way into the hearts -- and beds -- of cautious, reserved Vicky (Hall, born to be a Woody Allen heroine) and lusty, adventurous Cristina (a predictably bland Johansson), two best friends vacationing in Spain. Antonio's amorous advances leave both women reeling, forcing them to take stock of their lives, and it all leads up to a bittersweet final act that proves Woody Allen hasn't gone mushy.

Hall deserves heaps of praise for her prickly but vulnerable performance as Vicky, a woman who's sacrificed passion for predictability and realizes her mistake too late. Her pained looks will break your heart. As for Bardem, well, he's the very definition of a smooth operator. (He could, I feel certain, charm the pants right off every woman in the audience without breaking a sweat.) But Cruz? She just might be the hot wind that breathes new life into Allen's waning career.

Grade: B+