Ok, I have to chime in on this one because I
definitely don't think it's worthy of a 4 pickle rating. First, lemme talk about what IS good about the movie.
Yes, as everybody has talked about recently, Robert Downey Jr. is absolutely fantastic in the movie and he is easily the big showstealer here. As funny as his character is, it's the fake trailer of his with Tobey Maguire at the beginning of the film that I honestly thought was the funniest thing in the movie. Another nice surprise was Nick Nolte's role in the film as a pseudo Vietnam vet... I really wish he had more to do in it because he was a badass. Also noteworthy, believe it or not, is Tom Cruise. Watching him yell on the phone like a raving lunatic is definitely fun, though his character does tend to get old after a while.
Now for the bad. As good as Robert Downey Jr. is, 90% of what he does that's funny has already been in every commercial/trailer that you've seen. So that right there was extremely disappointing. Ben Stiller's role is ok in parts (such as the homage to
Platoon with his hands flailing in the air), but for the most part he doesn't really add anything to the film. The biggest disappointment, as Proto already mentioned, is Jack Black. I like Jack Black a lot and think he's an excellent physical comedian when given the opportunity... but goddamn, they really didn't use him to his potential in this.
Now I knew lots of people would love this movie regardless, and believe me... I really wanted to... but I barely laughed at all through the entire film. For all the brilliance that is Downey Jr., most of the gags fall completely flat. So four pickles? No way... 2.5 at best (and that's being generous). If you want to see a truly funny comedy in theaters right now, I'd suggest checking out
Step Brothers, because that movie IS filled with great laughs, which really surprised me since I wasn't expecting much from it at all.