Article: MOVIE REVIEW; `Tropic Thunder' pours on the excess; Ben Stiller declares war on sedate satire in this over-the-top comedy.(VARIETY)

Byline: COLIN COVERT; STAFF WRITER

Hollywood satire meets "Apocalypse Now" in "Tropic Thunder." Surely no movie-industry comedy has ever had a bigger napalm budget, more strafing helicopters or explosions on a par with this lunatic war movie satire. Every aspect of Ben Stiller's new comedy is extravagant. The acting goes beyond over-the-top and into pole-vaulting territory. The physical gags are conceived on the grandest scale possible. The characterizations are sky-high caricature. The R-rated humor dances on the brink between rude audacity and true offensiveness. Each shot is designed to pin your ears back with sheer excess. It's overkill as punch line.

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