This month, I discover an outrageous comedy in, of all places, the bloody jungle battlefields of Southeast Asia. Then, in an abrupt about face, I preview a somber documentary on the impact of war that premieres in Lexington this month. It looks at the lives of four Iraqi boys who struggle to get their high school education while violence swirls around them.
Tropic Thunder
Trying to explain why something is funny is often an exercise in futility. It usually ends up with blank stares, crickets chirping and admitting that "Well, you just had to be there."
There's no better example than the end-of-summer box office hit "Tropic Thunder." It's a war movie that makes fun of war movies. Doesn't sound all that hilarious? How about this: the leading character (Ben Stiller) is an action actor who tried to avoid being typecast by playing a mentally challenged young man. And there's the studio executive (a barely recognizable Tom Cruise) who takes profanity to a whole new level. And there is a white actor (Robert Downey Jr.) who has gone off the deep end playing the role of an African American soldier.
On paper, none of it sounds funny. In fact, it sounds so potentially offensive it could make for a disastrous movie. But, believe me, from these unlikely elements has come the most unlikely candidate for best comedy of the year. Outrageous can work-just ask Mel Brooks-and "Tropic Thunder" is nothing if not outrageous.
Director and chief writer Stiller spoofs the whole moviemaking enterprise and the over-the-top egos of actors, directors, agents and directors. Plus every clichÈ of war movies is skewered unmercifully. But the movie really takes off when it charges headlong into political incorrectness. You don't want to examine why you're laughing so hard; you just have to go with the flow.
The comic core of this movie is Robert Downey Jr.'s performance. He's a freakishly talented actor, and he shows it once again here. His jive-talking Sgt. Osiris is over the top. But that's the point; he's playing an actor who just doesn't know where to draw the line, but a black actor/soldier (Brandon T. Jackson) in the group is there to keep him honest, or at least tries. Their scenes together are some of the best in the film.
If Ben Stiller comedies ("Zoolander," "Dodgeball") are not your idea of a good time, then you should stay away. He and his band of co-stars are in full raunch mode here. Not much escapes their comic treatment. Not all of it works. But when they connect, wow, what a trip.
Boys from Baghdad High
Our wonderful local film festival, One World Films (OWF), normally takes place in February and March. But this fall, there will be a special abbreviated version of the festival in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice.
OWF will show the documentary "Boys from Baghdad High" at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 and again 4:30 p.m. Oct. 12 in the theatre in the downtown Lexington Public Library. The film, which had its debut on the BBC and its American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, follows four teenagers trying to live a "normal life" inside the war zone of Baghdad. It was shot starting in 2006, when Iraq was deep in sectarian conflict. The four boys - a Christian, a Kurd, a Shia and a Sunni - were given cameras to document their senior year in high school.
I caught "Baghdad High" when it recently aired on HBO. Experiencing anything close to a normal high school life is a struggle for these young men. They try to focus on studies while coping with power outages, dodging bullets and wondering whether school will be in session some days. Even getting to school in the mornings can be an obstacle course of its own.
Their religious differences make little difference. They are like teen boys anywhere - playful, looking for a little fun in the midst of the daily grind, downloading music, discovering girls and getting by. They're surprisingly open in front of the camera, narrating their lives, expressing sorrow over friends who move away, wondering about their future.
Education is crucial, and the film makes clear that it can be a very fragile commodity. When it's available, positive opportunities abound. When it's taken away, despair and anger take their place.
"Baghdad High" puts a very human face on a country and a people we often see only in generalizations. The boys are emblematic of a country disrupted by war and at a critical point in determining which way to turn.
As with all One World Film events, the screenings are free and open to the public. Kudos to Annette Mayer and her dedicated team for arranging with one of the film's directors for permission to bring the film here for this event.