All it takes is one bad movie for an actor to fall out of public favor. Two bad flicks in a row could do permanent damage to a star’s image. Former A-lister Ben Affleck knows this better than anyone else. His career hasn’t been the same since 2003’s “Daredevil” and “Gigli.”

Ben Stiller is another popular actor who is in prime position to lose his comic and dramatic credibility for good.

As an audience, we’ve had some good times with Stiller. He made us laugh by playing a lovable goofball in “There’s Something About Mary” and “Meet the Parents.” He invented wacky characters for silly but entertaining flicks like “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.” Stiller even took a family-friendly turn, winning the approval of soccer moms everywhere by starring in 2006’s “Night at the Museum.”

Then came the disappointment of last year’s crude and completely unfunny Farrelly Brothers flick, “The Heartbreak Kid.” That was strike one. A second strike nearly 10 years after his Hollywood prime could spell disaster for Stiller.

Stiller not only stars in “Tropic Thunder,” he wrote and directed it, too. Judging by Stiller’s last writing and directorial effort, the lame male model spoof “Zoolander,” he’ll need some help to make his new release a success.

The movie, which opened Wednesday, also boasts cast members Jack Black (“Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny”) and Robert Downey Jr. (“Iron Man”) and finds them playing actors in a Vietnam War-themed movie who are actually taken hostage in enemy territory. Black steps away from his signature long, messy brown locks for a short, spiked, bleach-blonde hairdo for this film.

There’s also a color change for Robert Downey Jr.’s character, a white actor who actually dyes his skin to play an African-American character. Not really a politically correct move, that decision brings Al Jolson in “The Jazz Singer” to mind. Stiller, as the creator of the character, may lose a few fans there as well.

Rounding out the group of famous faces in the cast is Hollywood’s favorite weirdo, Tom Cruise, who tries to earn some fan points by showing up for a surprising bit alongside the flick’s popular trio of funnymen.

Theater managers may not need to elevate the nerd alert level to orange just yet. Die-hard “Star Wars” fans may not be interested in a computer-animated chapter in the series entitled “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”

Sure, George Lucas produced this feature-length story and its companion television show, which show Anakin Skywalker in a positive light, somewhere before his dark turn in “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith;” but is a cartoon what fans of the long-running sci-fi fantasy series really want to see?

Kiefer Sutherland takes a quick break from TV’s “24” to star in a cheesy horror movie. “Mirrors” become creepy horror devices when people see their reflections behaving strangely and even committing suicide.

Other viewing options include “Fly Me to the Moon,” a 3-D animated flick for the kids, and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” a continuation of director Woody Allen’s fixation on Scarlett Johansson. Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem also star in Allen’s adult comedy about a painter and his lovers.

Movie Buzz is a column by Mariah Gardner. It appears in The Metro Spirit each Wednesday.