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Review of Tropic Thunder (Theodore Shapiro)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you want the rush of an explosive action parody score, one that touches briefly and haphazardly upon so many stereotypes in film music that it'll make your muscles spasm and head spin.

Avoid it... if you value continuity or originality, because both are practically nonexistent by necessity in Theodore Shapiro's otherwise effectively wild music.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Tropic Thunder: (Theodore Shapiro) Can you measure the success of a comedy movie based upon the number of advocacy groups that come together at the premiere to protest its insensitivity towards disadvantaged segments of the population? If so, then Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder has to be considered a smash hit. Groups representing African Americans and those with physical and mental disabilities were horrified by the 2008 film and its unique marketing blitz. The concept was nurtured by Stiller for decades, and he would eventually write, direct, produce, and star in the film (to varying degrees in each case). It pokes fun at the Hollywood production process of major blockbuster action films, often with ridiculous parody logic and elements of the filmmaking process blown out of proportion. Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey, Jr. are among those playing the stereotypes of modern action stars, and when they are collected to film the largest Vietnam War adventure film of all time, the unruly actors cause headaches and even death for their crewmates. They get dropped into an area of Vietnam for the covert filming of various scenes and inadvertently find themselves in the middle of warlord/drug territory and have to act their way through the remainder of their shoot and save their own lives in the process. The film was immensely expensive to make, but a shrewd marketing campaign by the studio included fake websites for the characters in the "film within a film" and even an energy drink produced by Paramount for consumption by the public. The humor of Tropic Thunder was solid enough to earn the film positive reviews and, after more time than expected, a profit. It was also recognized by the most prestigious awards bodies worldwide for Downey, Jr.'s controversial performance as a black man. The soundtrack features a balance of famous songs of yesteryear and an original score by Theodore Shapiro, both of which contributing to the acclaim of the film. Shapiro has made an entire career out of writing music for ridiculous comedies, a surefire way to pay the bills but never really allowing the composer to develop his own voice in practically any of his assignments. His career has been paralleled by James L. Venable, Christopher Lennertz, and a host of others who are experienced enough to emulate the sounds of others but for whom it's difficult to get a distinct career impression. The trick to good parody scores, however, is to treat the topic with utter seriousness, in the case of Lennertz, in particular, leading to satisfying listening experiences. Shapiro's music often has a more difficult time crossing over to album, and that tendency remains in Tropic Thunder.

The irony of Tropic Thunder, of course, is that Shapiro completely succeeded for his assignment despite doing absolutely nothing beyond the expected. There is not an original idea in his entire score for this film, and some may argue that it doesn't even translate into a coherent listening experience alone, but alas, it's an extremely competent and appropriate work. He begins with a remarkably wide group of players, including a full orchestra, several ethnic soloists and voices, and a variety of programmed electronics, and applies them to a procession of familiar techniques. Unlike some parody scores in which you can clearly point to a single point of reference for its imitation, Shapiro instead tackles several areas within the realm of film music. There's the Rambo sound of orchestral bravado and ethnic accents from Jerry Goldsmith and Brian Tyler, there's a range of ethnic flavor that extends from James Newton Howard's epics to cheap scores like BT's Stealth, and there's the straight rock-inspired contemporary line molded by Ramin Djawadi for Iron Man. Of course, no modern action score would be complete without some rhythmic testosterone from the John Powell library and a few (unfortunately underpowered) power anthems derived from the early Hans Zimmer days. Along the way, you get a handful of parodies within the parody, including faux sensitive music that bridges, oddly enough, the styles of Alan Silvestri and Mark McKenzie. Each instance of lampooning is executed well in Tropic Thunder, but not memorably. The score is rather weak thematically, with only its wholesome theme of redemption (itself a rip-off of Randy Edelman's Dragonheart) pulling together some cohesion in "Real Tears," and "Cue Bill Conti." Otherwise, the action motifs in Tropic Thunder are all over the place, and with the frantic shifts of performers and emotions from second to second, there is no satisfying flow to the score. Individual portions within cues do stand out, though, and these typically appeal because of Shapiro's entertaining employment of wailing ethnic woodwinds and mournful Lisbeth Scott vocals. The last tracks on the album include the unique little pieces of score written for the movies within the movie, and while quite palatable, they are brief. A significant amount of rearrangement of the score album (which only runs 40 minutes) is necessary to cluster some of the like-minded cues together, because otherwise Tropic Thunder will make your head spin. The best route is to take the score's longest, most representatively cohesive cue, "You're My Brother," as a three-minute compilation of the score's best ideas and discard the rest. Again, that's not to say that Shapiro failed here, but what's funny on screen does not always translate into a functional album.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 40:01

• 1. You're My Brother (2:59) • 2. Four Leaf's Plan (2:39) • 3. Lead Farmer (3:56) • 4. Enter the Dragons (0:59) • 5. Bad Feeling About This (0:53) • 6. Flaming Dragons (2:32) • 7. Panda Attack (1:17) • 8. Panda Call (0:47) • 9. The Golden Triangle (2:52) • 10. A Night at the Theater (0:48) • 11. Don't Judge Me (3:27)

• 12. Portnow's Plan (0:36) • 13. The Wet Offensive (1:52) • 14. Shadow Me, Pinocchio (0:50) • 15. Flamethrower (1:46) • 16. Breakdown Under (2:02) • 17. Truck Escape (1:01) • 18. Blow the Bridge (2:21) • 19. Real Tears (3:19) • 20. Simple Jack Trailer (1:15) • 21. Satan's Alley (0:53) • 22. Cue Bill Conti (1:06)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes a list of performers, but no extra information about the score or film.

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