Those looking for their next fix of the talented Robert Downey Jr. (currently riding the tremendous box office wave of Iron Man), will have to settle for the alleged comedy Tropic Thunder, due to be released this August. But be warned: Downey, who plays an actor who goes to extremes to play a black man, looks like the one comedic bright spot in this ham-fisted project written and directed by the painfully annoying Ben Stiller. Don't know about you, but I've grown weary of Stiller's over-the-top brand of physical comedy and his "I'm being ironically macho" shtick (Dodgeball, Starsky and Hutch). Because it's not ironic anymore. It's just sad. Oh well, at least his wife gets another acting gig, Marcia Brady-look-a-like Christine Taylor, who seems to have an uncredited cameo in the film.
This article appears in May 21-27, 2008.