Each character gets a creative introduction in the beginning through some funny spoof previews. Stiller, Black, and Downey Jr. hit the funny bone with genuine humor occasionally (e.g. Tugg's “I’m not a rocket ship” when Kirk presses him to instantly turn on the emotion during a scene), but the bad definitely outweighs the good. Nick Nolte also stars as the film’s military consultant Four Leaf Tayback while Brandon T. Jackson plays rapper turned actor Alpa Chino. Each of these characters follow an arc where they eventually discover/reveal their true selves.
A few authentic characters provide different perspectives. Steve Coogan stars as the film’s director who is trying to set up the greatest war movie ever. Jay Baruchel stars as Kevin Sandusky who rounds out the main group of actors while Danny McBride has an impressive role as the movie set demolition expert who gets right into the action. “I‘m moving to catering after this,” says McBride after an over-the-top action sequence. Bill Hader plays studio executive Rob Slolom while Stiller’s wife Christine Taylor makes a cameo appearance.
Several regular star cameos continues the one-two comedy approach where a star is mentioned in the dialogue (or shown as in MTV Movie Award Best Kiss Winner Tobey Maguire) then makes a visual appearance. Big stars like Matthew McConaughey fill out the supporting cast, which includes a surprising high level star appearance. Some characters find redemption (a Hollywood agent does not succumb to greed) and understanding (Kirk apologizes for offending a fellow actor with his cultural insensitivity). These elements have no anchoring connections or dramatic tension so resolving these “conflicts” have little impact on the movie.
The guerrilla filmmaking approach yields some interesting reality vs. Hollywood scenarios, which initiates some real tension, but quickly deflates, but still yields an impressive noticeable acting debut from Brandon Soo Hoo, who plays Tran, the young leader of the antagonistic Flaming Dragon syndicate. Not recommended and rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content, gore, and drug material.
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