Hollywood tickled by 'Tropic Thunder'

The industry crowd at Monday's "Tropic Thunder" preem proved they can certainly take a joke, even when the joke is on them.New Regency's Hutch Parker said the pic "nails it as an action comedy while also delivering on the highest level as a satire of the movie culture." Tom Sherak said the film was "so well cast, it's scary." One industry lawyer said, "Some of the movie stuff is inside, but it's fun to watch Tom Cruise swear." Another attendee noted Robert Downey Jr.'s Oscar-winning-Aussie-doing-blackface role and said, "I wonder if Russell Crowe will see it?" And while developmental disability activists were picketing outside the Village Theater over the use of the word "retard" in the script, a number of guests joked that it's SAG that should be protesting because if anyone gets ridiculed, it's the thesps. Producer Stuart Cornfeld said he saw industry reaction this way: "Hollywood understands it's walking through the room larger than life and loves to see itself as a backdrop for comedy."... Link