Until just recently, 2008 was a pretty weak year for comedies. Forgetting Sarah Marshall was a winner to be sure, but beyond that, I'd be hard pressed to come up with any other titles, pre-July, that left any sort of long lasting impression. Now, with the summer coming to an end, we've been graced with a flurry of really funny films. The Pineapple Express and Hamlet 2 were laugh out loud entertainments, but Ben Stiller's action comedy opus Tropic Thunder emerges as the summer's strongest laugh-fest.

In this righteously hysterical – and satirical - look at Hollywood, Steve Coogan plays a down on his luck film director who, after being bullied by the industry's biggest asshole of a producer (a hilarious riff on one of the world's biggest producers by one of the world's most famous movie stars), decides to drop his team of professional but underachieving actors in an actual war zone so that his latest dramatic war epic might feel more realistic. None the wiser, the dopey lead actors played by Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. - have no idea they're about to be engaged by the real enemy. Faster than you can say "Three Amigos" our fearless trio find themselves in the shit!

How are the three leads in the film? Well, let's start at the bottom and work our way up. Ben Stiller is the least funny of the three. As Tugg Speedman, aka "The Action Guy," Stiller is heavily overshadowed by his more appropriately cast co-stars. This isn't to say he doesn't have his moments. There's a hilarious bit in which Stiller gets into a scuffle with a most unexpected forest dweller, and another in which he's attacked, without warning, by a...well, you'll just have to see it for yourself, but for the most part, Stiller is outplayed. I do have to applaud his work out ethic. He shows off the guns quite a bit here, and I must say, they're impressive. In the end though, Stiller the director is far more effective than Stiller the actor. Jack Black is at his manic best. As the drug addicted Jeff Portnoy, aka "The Comedian", Black doesn't hold back. Whether he's farting up a storm in a Nutty Professor send up called The Fatties: Fart 2, or chasing a bird that's stolen his stash, Black is an energetic force to be reckoned with.

It's a goofy, over the top, physically exhausting turn. Outside of High Fidelity and School of Rock, it's probably his strongest comical performance yet. As entertaining as Black is, Tropic Thunder really belongs to Robert Downey Jr, a veteran actor whose finally enjoying a heap load of much deserved commercial success. As Kirk Lazarus, aka "The Award Winner", Downey Jr. gives what I truly believe to be an Oscar worthy turn which is really ironic, because it's this very same mentality that he's mocking in the picture. His Australian movie star is so method, that he actually goes under the knife in an attempt to capture the essence of the African American soldier he's playing in the film within the film. This turn is so funny and so convincing that it's impossible to be offended by it. You'll simply sit back and laugh and marvel at the way Downey Jr. pokes fun at Hollywood seriousness.

The screenplay by Stiller, Justin Theroux, and Etan Coen (not Ethan Coen – take note) is a riot. I laughed so hard during the first twenty minutes of this picture, that it became increasingly difficult to continue laughing. Not because the film stopped being funny, but because my sides were hurting too much. Tropic Thunder isn't as subtle or as inside as Robert Altman's brilliant satire The Player, but it's still howlingly funny.

This is an irreverent film, but I wouldn't call it hateful. Tropic Thunder 6y7is being targeted by disability groups for it's use of the word "retard". Unfortunate, because if you observe the way the word is used, it's a direct stab at an overly serious movie industry and nothing more. It's simply hilarious in the context of the film.

Director Ben Stiller really has assembled a dream cast here. It goes beyond the zaniness that is Black and the brilliance that is Downey Jr. Danny McBride and a grizzled Nick Nolte are also wonderful here, but it's the onslaught of noteworthy cameos that folks will be talking about as they walk out of this picture. I won't reveal names, because that would be to ruin one of the film's biggest charms. It's best if you go into this picture blind.

Beyond the winning cast, there's a surprising level of edge to Tropic Thunder. Not just in terms of it's side splitting hilarity, but it's action and A-level technical attributes as well. This movie looks good. There were times when I forgot I was watching a farce. And as was the case in the recent Pineapple Express, there's quite a bit of violence here, albeit it's certainly more in keeping with the consistent tone of Tropic Thunder.

Comedy is the toughest and most polarizing of genres. What might be hilarious to some folks will be completely dumb to others, and what some might find comic genius, others will find mean spirited and offensive. Tropic Thunder is sure to walk that fine line amongst viewers. For this particular viewer, Tropic Thunder went, to quote Kirk Lazarus, "full retard" and I loved every laugh out loud second of it.

On a side-note, keep a watch out for Rain of Madness, an amazing documentary about the making of Tropic Thunder. It was the winner of the prestigious "Tijuana Shrieking Donkey Award". Log on to rainofmadness.com for more information.