Tropic Thunder Brings Jungle Fever

The summer's last big comedy sends up Hollywood, actors, war movies and possibly its own audience

Jackson, Stiller, and Downey, from left, caught in unscripted drama.

You're in the movie house, waiting for Tropic Thunder to begin, but first you have to sit through the commercials and previews of coming attractions. There's a spot for--wait a minute--Booty Sweat, an energy drink from the rapper Alpa Chino. Then a trailer for Scorcher VI, a Rambovian sequel in which the Stallone figure closely resembles a bulked-up Ben Stiller. A teaser for The Fatties: Fart 2 seems awfully Eddie Murphy, with one comic playing multiple members of a morbidly obese family, yet the actor under all that latex could well be Jack Black. Finally, a preview for the art-house drama...

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