A director's epic Vietnam picture is behind schedule and over budget. Taking the advice of the grizzled war veteran on whose life the film is based, he drops the actors into a jungle with the intention of filming them fighting guerrilla-style - but the cast is unaware the surrounding warfare is genuine. Comedy, directed by and starring Ben Stiller, with Jack Black, Steve Coogan and, in an Oscar-nominated role, Robert Downey Jr.

A group of self-absorbed actors set out to make the most expensive war film ever. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys.