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The last bit in tact
Sep. 2nd, 2008 12:29 pmMonday, on Labor Day, I saw two movies I kept meaning to see but have put off for one reason or another: Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder.
I went to the Century City AMC and used the electronic ticketing system, as usual. It printed my ticket and receipt and I proceeded to the theater. But I went via elevator and completely bypassed the ushers. I expose this loophole as a test, a public service (or should I say "private sector service"). In any case, my ticket is still completely in tact.
Naturally Pineapple Express reminded me of Superbad and Knocked Up while Tropic Thunder reminded me of Zoolander. I think that's what each team was going for, but I was struck by how similar the two movies are on the surface. They both have at least the following in common:
* Characters who have no business being heroes thrust into dangerous situations and fighting awkwardly
* Asian drug lords who make and/or distribute drugs that the heroes want
* Bill Hader (I haven't watched SNL regularly since college so I don't really know much about Bill Hader, except that he seems to play bit parts in some of the hipper comedies of the past few years).
Much has been said of the casting of Pineapple Express. Originally, Seth Rogen was to play Saul the pot dealer while James Franco was to play Dale Denton. I'm glad Franco insisted on playing Saul, because I just can't see how it would have worked with Seth Rogen playing him. Seth Rogen plays characters that are absurd slacker potheads but they're usually coherent, witty, smartasses that have awkward social skills whose harsh honesty betrays their better sense. What grounds his characters is the intelligence simmering under the surface waiting for the time to strike. For him to play someone like Saul would undermine the credibility of the film (though I expect the character would have been different than he appeared on-screen).
And credibility is central to the humor of this movie. The laughs come from the idea that a regular guy finds himself in completely irregular and dangerous situations. What does he do? How could he possibly react? Steven Speilberg likes to say that he does the same thing, but obviously with different intentions and different results. The point is that you have scenes where characters hang out in the woods trying to wait out a bad situation or hang in a tree bonding through fear or use Garagely as an alias out of desperation.
Like most Apatow films, this one is largely about the friendship and male-bonding that blossoms from an unlikely mix of characters. His characters often seem to reveal their intelligence despite their initial appearances through their unconventional thinking and each of the characters here has their own well-defined point-of-view fueling their choices and driving the action. That's really all I can ask from any story. It's what made me fall in love with Ratatouille last year.
Another thing going for Pineapple Express, at least in relation to Tropic Thunder, is that they still have a slight edge on hip indie cred. Their filmmaking style seems more quick-and-dirty, a little more gritty, and less jam-packed with high-wattage cameos.
But Tropic Thunder, like Zoolander, takes advantage of its insider status to skewer the entertainment industry mercilessly. The characters are only slightly less cartoony than in Zoolander, but there's enough outrageousness to cause some seriously shocking laugh-out-loud moments. The biggest laugh came from a surprise around the end of the first act that, I won't spoil here but, was milked for all its glorious tastelessness.
Here too casting becomes critical. Robert Downey, Jr. has had a trio of lauded performances this year, two of which I have now seen. I missed Ironman, but I came away from his turn in Charlie Bartlett thinking much the same thing as the critics did of his role in Ironman. In both he mined his former demons to create a character that sought redemption through a facade of cynicism. Here he seems to have cleansed his palette of darker material in order to lampoon Russell Crowe, someone who's not so much an addicted celebrity as a notorious hotheaded, arrogant, but talented actor. It's an aspect of the movie where the insider status really informs the bits on the craft of acting and filmmaking--which includes of course disappearing so much into a role that he doesn't break character until after the DVD commentary, much to the rightful offense of Brandon T. Jackson's character Alpa Chino.
Speaking of disappearing into characters, Tom Cruise played a ruthless studio head with such ferocity that I didn't realize it was him until halfway through the movie. I had heard he was in the movie, I think I even heard he played a bald studio head, but I think I was expecting it to be a cameo. I've never liked Tom Cruise. I can't think of any character he's ever played that's been likable. But this was a brilliant turn. It was an effective way to harness the creepy intensity he brings to each of the roles he does play.
The film probably deserves its controversy, but as with most controversial satires, I think that the point is lost on protesters. These characters are offensive. We're not meant to like them per se, we're certainly not meant to like the choices they make, but as with Pineapple Express, we're meant to feel for them because they do all have things they want and they all persue those things with vigorous, entertaining, over-the-top force.
I went to the Century City AMC and used the electronic ticketing system, as usual. It printed my ticket and receipt and I proceeded to the theater. But I went via elevator and completely bypassed the ushers. I expose this loophole as a test, a public service (or should I say "private sector service"). In any case, my ticket is still completely in tact.
Naturally Pineapple Express reminded me of Superbad and Knocked Up while Tropic Thunder reminded me of Zoolander. I think that's what each team was going for, but I was struck by how similar the two movies are on the surface. They both have at least the following in common:
* Characters who have no business being heroes thrust into dangerous situations and fighting awkwardly
* Asian drug lords who make and/or distribute drugs that the heroes want
* Bill Hader (I haven't watched SNL regularly since college so I don't really know much about Bill Hader, except that he seems to play bit parts in some of the hipper comedies of the past few years).
Much has been said of the casting of Pineapple Express. Originally, Seth Rogen was to play Saul the pot dealer while James Franco was to play Dale Denton. I'm glad Franco insisted on playing Saul, because I just can't see how it would have worked with Seth Rogen playing him. Seth Rogen plays characters that are absurd slacker potheads but they're usually coherent, witty, smartasses that have awkward social skills whose harsh honesty betrays their better sense. What grounds his characters is the intelligence simmering under the surface waiting for the time to strike. For him to play someone like Saul would undermine the credibility of the film (though I expect the character would have been different than he appeared on-screen).
And credibility is central to the humor of this movie. The laughs come from the idea that a regular guy finds himself in completely irregular and dangerous situations. What does he do? How could he possibly react? Steven Speilberg likes to say that he does the same thing, but obviously with different intentions and different results. The point is that you have scenes where characters hang out in the woods trying to wait out a bad situation or hang in a tree bonding through fear or use Garagely as an alias out of desperation.
Like most Apatow films, this one is largely about the friendship and male-bonding that blossoms from an unlikely mix of characters. His characters often seem to reveal their intelligence despite their initial appearances through their unconventional thinking and each of the characters here has their own well-defined point-of-view fueling their choices and driving the action. That's really all I can ask from any story. It's what made me fall in love with Ratatouille last year.
Another thing going for Pineapple Express, at least in relation to Tropic Thunder, is that they still have a slight edge on hip indie cred. Their filmmaking style seems more quick-and-dirty, a little more gritty, and less jam-packed with high-wattage cameos.
But Tropic Thunder, like Zoolander, takes advantage of its insider status to skewer the entertainment industry mercilessly. The characters are only slightly less cartoony than in Zoolander, but there's enough outrageousness to cause some seriously shocking laugh-out-loud moments. The biggest laugh came from a surprise around the end of the first act that, I won't spoil here but, was milked for all its glorious tastelessness.
Here too casting becomes critical. Robert Downey, Jr. has had a trio of lauded performances this year, two of which I have now seen. I missed Ironman, but I came away from his turn in Charlie Bartlett thinking much the same thing as the critics did of his role in Ironman. In both he mined his former demons to create a character that sought redemption through a facade of cynicism. Here he seems to have cleansed his palette of darker material in order to lampoon Russell Crowe, someone who's not so much an addicted celebrity as a notorious hotheaded, arrogant, but talented actor. It's an aspect of the movie where the insider status really informs the bits on the craft of acting and filmmaking--which includes of course disappearing so much into a role that he doesn't break character until after the DVD commentary, much to the rightful offense of Brandon T. Jackson's character Alpa Chino.
Speaking of disappearing into characters, Tom Cruise played a ruthless studio head with such ferocity that I didn't realize it was him until halfway through the movie. I had heard he was in the movie, I think I even heard he played a bald studio head, but I think I was expecting it to be a cameo. I've never liked Tom Cruise. I can't think of any character he's ever played that's been likable. But this was a brilliant turn. It was an effective way to harness the creepy intensity he brings to each of the roles he does play.
The film probably deserves its controversy, but as with most controversial satires, I think that the point is lost on protesters. These characters are offensive. We're not meant to like them per se, we're certainly not meant to like the choices they make, but as with Pineapple Express, we're meant to feel for them because they do all have things they want and they all persue those things with vigorous, entertaining, over-the-top force.
