Inspired loosely by Ben Stiller's experience on the set of 'Empire of the Sun', Tropic Thunder is a comedy centered around a group of actors portraying Vietnam soldiers who are forced into a real combat situation. The film's biggest talking point is Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus. If it is fourth wall breaking, tongue in cheek dig at Hollywood actors and you have a black actor by your side constantly chastising you for it, is it okay to black yourself up for the sake of a few cheap laughs? Probably not, but this film goes ahead with it anyway. The critics and indeed general public seem split down the middle with this one, some finding his role show stealing and just the right side of bad taste, while others find it to be a repulsive way of marketing an average film. Whatever your stance on the it, ask someone in ten years what they remember of Tropic Thunder and its almost guaranteed they will say Robert Downey Jr. (Or Tom Cruise and his big hairy hands).