Robert Downey Jr.’s latest television series features a great callback to his 2008 comedy classic. The new HBO limited series The Sympathizer is a critically acclaimed adaptation based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name written by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Since releasing on April 14, 2024, The Sympthzier has earned an 88% Rotten Tomatoes score and is widely considered one of the best miniseries currently on television. The acclaimed series stars Downey Jr. as four different characters in his first major role since his Oscar-winning performance in 2023’s Oppenheimer.

The Sympathizer’s cast also includes Hoa Xuande, Toan Le, Fred Nguyen Khan, and Sandra Oh. The series follows a communist spy known simply as The Captain who flees his home country of Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon. The Captain moves to Los Angeles with the General and is kept under the watchful eye of CIA operative Claude, one of the four characters played by Downey Jr. RDJ also plays an eccentric college professor who is the head of Asian Studies at The Captain’s alma mater, as well as a short-tempered California Congressman and an auteur film director known as Nikos.

David Duchovny Plays A Relentless Method Actor & Vietnam War Captain In The Sympathizer

David Duchovny has a cameo in The Sympathizer episode 4, which was released exclusively on HBO and Max on May 5, 2024. The episode, titled “Give Us Some Good Lines”, saw The Captain act as a film consultant for Nikos’ Vietnam War film while also doubling as a spy for the Viet Cong. The Captain works diligently to incorporate ideals of communism within the film without Nikos’ knowledge, particularly because he can’t speak Vietnamese. Downey Jr. plays Nikos throughout the episode, who is a passionate yet impatient creative who will stop at nothing to create the best movie imaginable.

Duchovny is best known for his roles in the celebrated series Californication (2007 – 2014) and The X Files (1993 – 2018). His involvement in The Sympathizer episode 4 is one of two surprise guest appearances, the other one being John Cho of Star Trek and Harold & Kumar acclaim. While Cho plays an actor in Nikos’ film who specializes in dying onscreen, Duchovny portrays a hardened army captain who does not hesitate to speak his mind about the dangers of war. Part inspirational and part downright terrifying, Duchovny’s character is also a method actor, which feels like a direct callback to RDJ’s classic Tropic Thunder character.

How Duchovny’s Captain Shamus Compares To RDJ’s Kirk Lazarus Tropic Thunder Character

Robert Downey Jr.’s iconic Kirk Lazarus character was a standout aspect of 2008’s Tropic Thunder. RDJ’s character was considered controversial by some, but nevertheless, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his role. Tropic Thunder is a hilarious satirical comedy directed by Ben Stiller with many similar themes to The Sympathizer, particularly episode 4. Both Tropic Thunder and The Sympathizer feature movies within a movie, offering glimpses at the behind-the-scenes of big-budget filmmaking as part of their stories. Both projects are also centered around warfare and Vietnam, and both include relentless method actor soldier characters.

Like RDJ’s Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder, David Duchovny’s Captain Shamus refuses to break character throughout the production process, even when the cameras aren’t rolling. Lazarus and Shamus both take their method acting approach way too far, causing real life problems and consequences for the people around them. In The Sympathizer episode 4, Captain Shamus ends up antagonizing a fellow actor so much that he inspires him to get in an actual fistfight during a scene. It appears that this is what Captain Shamus had wanted all along, and the scene ends up being great for Nikos’ war movie.

The Sympathizer’s Chaotic Episode 4 Also References Francis Ford Coppola & Apocalypse Now

The Sympathizer episode 4 also has clear references to classic Vietnam War films such as Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979). RDJ’s Nikos is loosely based on Coppola himself and was written as such in the original novel. The chaotic behind-the-scenes activities seen in The Sympthzier feel in the same spirit as the notorious production stories of Apocalypse Now. There were plenty of wild happenings on set, such as Martin Sheen’s heart attack. Dennis Hopper was allegedly intoxicated throughout, and Marlon Brando showed up to the set unprepared after getting paid $3.5 million for 3 weeks of work.

The Sympathizer certainly tries to capture this chaotic behind-the-scenes vibe of Apocalypse Now, making for a highly entertaining and unpredictable episode. It also seamlessly ties in some of the narrative devices of Tropic Thunder, particularly through the Captain Shamus character. Rather than glorify certain aspects of the Vietnam War as Apocalypse Now has been said to do, The Sympathizer brings about some of the glaring realities of the point of these types of movies. Celebrated as they are, they paint a clear picture of an enemy, in this case, the Vietnamese people, which The Captain in The Sympathizer tries his best to defend.

How The Sympathizer Compares To Tropic Thunder, Apocalypse Now, & Other Vietnam War Classics

The Sympathizer opened to positive reviews upon its release on April 14, 2024 and has maintained its impressive 87% Rotten Tomatoes score. Despite positive reviews, The Sympathizer does not appear to be as popular as other critically acclaimed miniseries, even with the major appeal of four separate Robert Downey Jr. performances for the price of one. The Sympathizer will conclude on May 26, 2024, and could continue to build on the strong momentum of episode 4, which is the most entertaining if not the overall best episode of the HBO/Max series.

Compared to classic Vietnam War movies like Apocalypse Now, The Sympathizer isn’t as visually stunning or thematically impactful, carrying a more lighthearted tone in general. Three episodes of the series were directed by Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden), who notably incorporated some great transition shots between scenes in the series. As for the comedic elements of The Sympathizer, they make for an enjoyable watch but are hard to compete with Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and an unhinged Robert Downey Jr.The Sympathizer is a strong series but is not as haunting or profound as Apocolypse Now, nor as laugh-out-loud funny as Tropic Thunder, although they do share some similarities.