A group of self-absorbed actors set out to make the most expensive war film ever. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys.
Acting
RDJ's Australian playing a Black soldier playing a Vietnamese farmer. Layers.
Writing
Fake trailers better than most real movies this decade.
Direction
Stiller balancing explosive satire with actual explosions.
Director
Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Tugg Speedman
Robert Downey Jr.
Kirk Lazarus
Jack Black
Jeff Portnoy
Jay Baruchel
Kevin Sandusky
Brandon T. Jackson
Alpa Chino
Brandon Soo Hoo
Tran
Matthew McConaughey
Rick Peck
Tom Cruise
Les Grossman
Nick Nolte
Four Leaf Tayback
Danny McBride
Cody
Steve Coogan
Damien Cockburn
Bill Hader
Rob Slolom
Reggie Lee
Byong
Trieu Tran
Tru
Tobey Maguire
Tobey Maguire
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tom Cruise's Les Grossman was uncredited and kept secret until premiere. The fat suit, bald cap, and dance were all his idea.
The film sparked massive controversy for RDJ's blackface, though the NAACP ultimately defended it as satirizing actors who appropriate Black stories. The discourse remains messy.
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US
