Just in case there was any doubt left, yes, Robert Downey is in blackface for almost the entirety of Tropic Thunder. And no, I didn't feel guilty about laughing at him. That's because Downey, who plays the Russel Crowe-like Kirk Lazarus, is laughing at himself. It's a ridiculous premise: a multi-time Oscar winner, Lazarus undergoes controversial (you don't say!) skin pigmentation-altering surgery to play the African-American sergeant of the American platoon featured in the Vietnam War-era film-within-a-film, also dubbed Tropic Thunder, that he is filming alongside action star Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), comedian Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), hip-hop artist Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), and up-and-comer Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel). So "Method" is his acting that Lazarus refuses to drop character, vacillating between truly stubborn and genuinely confused, often putting him at odds with the African-American Chino, who is upset that "they had one good part in there for a black man, and they gave it to "Crocodile Dundee!" (Lazarus's rebuttal is one of the best lines in the movie, thanks in no small part to Downey's delivery.)
1
Results tagged “nicknolte”
Continue reading "CinePhillyist Reviews... Tropic Thunder"
...Class: Nick Nolte is full of it. (Via The Superficial.)
Continue reading "This Week in Celebrity..."
What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend
Continue reading "CinePhillyist"
Continue reading "This Week in Celebrity..."
What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend.
Continue reading "CinePhillyist"
What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend.
Continue reading "CinePhillyist"
« Previous
1
Next »
