Trivia for
Tropic Thunder (2008) More at IMDb Pro »

• The poster for "The Fatties" behind Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) in the trailer features the names of a few of the film's actual crew members: costume designer Marlene Stewart, editor Greg Hayden, director of photography John Toll, and screenwriter Justin Theroux. In addition, the poster contains the DreamWorks Pictures logo, the Dolby Stereo logo, and a fictional composite of several MPAA ratings (reading "PG - Parental Guidance - under 11 requires accompanying parent or guardian").
  
  
• The title is a play on "Tropic Lightning," nickname of the 25th Infantry Division which did see action in Vietnam and which Oliver Stone served in.
  
  
• "Fats" Portnoy was written with Jack Black in mind.
  
  

• The movie drew criticism from several disability groups for the "Simple Jack" subplot, regarding a movie-within-a-movie in which Stiller's character portrays a mentally disabled man. Clips of the fictitious movie are shown, and re-enacted by Stiller, while scenes between Downey Jr. and Stiller drew particular scorn for their repeated use of the word "retard". The producers withdrew a "Simple Jack" website, and proposed altering the movie in response to a special early screening for the disability groups in question, but did not follow through on the suggestion. According to co-writer Etan Cohen, the scenes were not meant to derive humor from mental disability itself, but to satirize emotionally exploitative depictions of mental disability in movies such as Forrest Gump (1994) and Rain Man (1988), and the actors who take these roles.
  
  
• The character of Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) was originally written as Irish. It was changed to Australian, when Robert Downey Jr. said it would be easier for him to improvise in an Australian accent.
  
  
• Downey was very reluctant to take the role because he felt wearing the make-up to look African-American was offensive. But Downey later accepted the role because he liked the script and wanted to work with Stiller and Jack Black.
  
  
• According to Ben Stiller, in an interview with Playboy, Jack Black filmed most of this movie with bruised ribs.
  
  
• Shipped to some theaters under the name "Capricorn".
  
  

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