Kirk Lazarus. From the movie screen to the masses

The parody film "Soldiers of Failure", which earned an impressive $ 188 million at the box office, gave the world vivid, colorful characters.

Incorrect Satire

Now it’s hard to find a layman who doesn’t know the terrible film producer Les Grossman (Tom Cruise), British director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan), the star of the endless action epic “Roast” Tagg Speedman (Ben Stiller), all the weary comedian Jeff Black Portnoy ( , the rambling rapper Alp Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) and, of course, the Oscar-winning unique Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) Despite the fact that the satire parody came out tough, merciless and extremely politically incorrect, its fictional characters fell in love with the audience, mi even film critics.

As a result, the comedy turned out to be homerically funny and extremely topical, and Downey-ml. received another Oscar nomination. And Kirk Lazarus, whose photo did not leave the editorial board of the media dedicated to the cinema, practically materialized and began to live his own life. His phrases became winged, the audience pulled the dialogue with his participation into quotes, and DreamWorks at all began to demand an Oscar for him.

Parody of Russell Crowe?

Biography of Kirk Lazarus until the moment of participation in the blockbuster about the Vietnam war is covered in mystery. It is only known that he is a native of Australia, the most popular actor who received five Oscars, and one of the awards is for the best female role. The blue-eyed blonde is famous in Hollywood for his ability to cope with absolutely any role. He is famous for his complete and irrevocable immersion in the image of his every hero. Therefore, having learned that he has been approved for the role of a sergeant of a pronounced representative of the black race named Lincoln Osiris, Kirk Lazarus fearlessly goes for plastic surgery to change skin pigmentation.

As leading world critics noted, the silly hero Downey, who actively practices the Stanislavsky system, is one of the most brilliant parodies of Australian and American film actor Russell Crowe. But a more discerning viewer will certainly note that Downey did not blindly parody his colleague, he went much further. Kirk Lazarus is the collective image of all the successful actors of the Dream Factory. He is smug, selfish, scandalously provocative, at the same time touching with a sad sweet smile on his face.

"Viral" promotion

The filmography of Kirk Lazarus to a certain extent became known to a wide audience thanks to the so-called "viral" promotion of the blockbuster being shot. The creators of the “Soldier of Failure” developed fictitious sites and additionally shot fake movie trailers in which the character of Robert Downey Jr was shot. The most memorable commercial was the trailer for the blockbuster "Alley of Satan", which was created as a parody of the tape "Brokeback Mountain".

Robert Downey Jr decided to end Kirk

More recently, Robert Downey Jr. made a statement in which he stated that he was not going to return to the image of the hero played in Soldiers of Failure. In his opinion, the release of the sequel may bring the creators a certain amount of money, but the continuation would not be as successful as the original tape. At the same time, the actor, who received the second Oscar figurine for the embodiment of Kirk’s image, does not exclude the possibility of continuing cooperation with Ben Stiller in any form - both the director and the screen partner.

Unbelievable, but it is a fact

It is unknown, guided by what considerations, but after the release of the film “Soldiers of Failure”, the DreamWorks film company was going to demand that the Oscar award be awarded to Kirk Lazarus, despite the fact that he was a fictional actor. There have never been such cases in the history of the world film industry. It turns out that DreamWorks itself believed in the real existence of "an actor who played the role of an actor playing a soldier."

The filmmakers themselves explain their statement by the fact that it was not without reason that they came up with a plot for five paintings, for the participation of which Kirk received his Oscars. The studio is convinced that Lazarus is simply obliged to receive an award for the best supporting role. The public reaction is contradictory, many fans of the “Soldier of Failure” enthusiastically picked up this idea. But the reaction of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts of the United States remained unknown.