That was unexpected. Certainly, Ben Stiller didn't see it coming. That would be the coalition of disabilities groups calling for a boycott of his R-rated comedy Tropic Thunder which opens on Wednesday. During a recent interview in L. A. promoting the raunchy comedy before the protests, Stiller was more concerned about Robert Downey Jr.'s role as a white method actor playing an African-American soldier in the farce about the making of a Vietnam war movie. So what's the main problem? In the conceit of the movie within the movie, Stiller plays action star Tugg Speedman who pursues an Oscar nomination by signing to do a low-budget flick called Simple Jack . As the fake trailer explains, and as Stiller as the incompetent Speedman exaggerates playing Jack, Jack is a mentally impaired farm hand who can talk to the animals. The joke's on Speedman and clearly directed at Sean Penn's portrayal in I Am Sam , which did receive an Oscar nod. But Timothy P. Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, doesn't see it that way, finds the Simple Jack trailer offensive and is pushing for the boycott. Before all this broke, Stiller was just plain happy to have finally completed the film he had been working on for 10 years. He said the skewering and the lampooning was aimed squarely at Hollywood's excesses, including substance abuse problems which Downey had fought and has recently recovered form. That didn't mean Stiller, who also directed and co-w ...
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That was unexpected. Certainly, Ben Stiller didn't see it coming. That would be the coalition of disabilities groups calling for a boycott of his R-rated comedy Tropic Thunder which opens on Wednesday. During a recent interview in L. A. promoting the raunchy comedy before the protests, Stiller was more concerned about Robert Downey Jr.'s role as a white method actor playing an African-American soldier in the farce about the making of a Vietnam war movie. So what's the main problem? In the conceit of the movie within the movie, Stiller plays action star Tugg Speedman who pursues an Oscar nomination by signing to do a low-budget flick called Simple Jack . As the fake trailer explains, and as Stiller as the incompetent Speedman exaggerates playing Jack, Jack is a mentally impaired farm hand who can talk to the animals. The joke's on Speedman and clearly directed at Sean Penn's portrayal in I Am Sam , which did receive an Oscar nod. But Timothy P. Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, doesn't see it that way, finds the Simple Jack trailer offensive and is pushing for the boycott. Before all this broke, Stiller was just plain happy to have finally completed the film he had been working on for 10 years. He said the skewering and the lampooning was aimed squarely at Hollywood's excesses, including substance abuse problems which Downey had fought and has recently recovered form. That didn't mean Stiller, who also directed and co-w ...