Some viewers may be quick to label Tropic Thunder as a simple action comedy — Hot Shots! Part Deux immediately came to mind upon exiting the theater — or a parody comparable to the Scary Movie series. Instead, the film seems more akin to 2007’s Grindhouse, combining the best elements of satire, homage and spoof.

Like Rodriguez and Tarantino’s double feature, Tropic Thunder also features several fake movie trailers. Unlike Grindhouse, the trailers serve as introductions to the main characters, establishing the radically different acting styles of method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), action star Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) and crude comedian Jeff Portnoy (appropriately played by Jack Black).

The film begins in Vietnam, where filming is underway for an adaptation of a historical narrative of the same name that details a rescue mission during the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, the self-centered star trio has delayed production by a month with its pompous demands, and both the novel’s author, veteran Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte), and the film’s director (Steve Coogan) have become fed up. The two decide to change the nature of the film and drop off the main cast in the middle of the jungle to “shoot the whole thing guerrilla style”.

The plan works perfectly until the actors are left to fend for themselves, at which time they promptly become lost and stumble upon a drug smuggling operation. A case of mistaken identity and hilarity ensues as the actors assume it’s all part of the film, while the drug smugglers believe that they’ve run across a group of covert Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents.

The film is unapologetically violent, crude and potentially offensive to various groups, from blacks — Lazarus undergoes a surgery putting him in blackface to become a black soldier — to the mentally handicapped. However, for the most part, these instances seem to be intended more for poking fun at the Hollywood establishment than for any purposely offensive message.

Black is easily the weakest of the three lead actors in the film. The off-the-wall humor and cocky style that has worked so well for the actor and musician in Kung Fu Panda and so many of his other films comes across as awkward and redundant; this is typical Jack Black.

Downey, on the other hand, shows that he can play both action star and comedian, as Iron Man proved earlier this year. He spouts off one of the most memorable lines of the film as though it easily could have been pulled out of any Michael Bay or Jerry Bruckheimer film.

With Jay Baruchel as a young actor inspired by Speedman and Lazarus and Brandon T. Jackson as Alpa Chino, a rapper-turned-actor who satirizes the stereotypical hip-hop lifestyle, the supporting cast nearly outshines the stars. Along with Bill Hader, Danny McBride and Nick Nolte, the characters perfectly complement the often over-the-top performances of Stiller, Black and Downey.

The film also features a host of cameos, including Tobey Maguire hilariously echoing Jake Gyllenhaal’s Brookback Mountain role in a fake film trailer, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Cruise in an unexpected scene during the credits that may be remembered as the funniest of his career.