On Monday, an association of disabilities groups is anticipated to demand a national boycott of the 2008 action comedy film “Tropic Thunder,” due to the fact that it believes that the film laughs at the intellectually disabled.

Directed by the Emmy Award-winning Ben Stiller and starring Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., the movie is scheduled to be released Wednesday by the distribution company Paramount Pictures and its Dream Works unit.

“Not only might it happen, it will happen,” said Timothy P. Shriver, chief executive officer and chairman of the Special Olympics, on the topic of the boycott.

The actors’ lines included the word “retard,” repeated several times in reference to one of the characters, Simple Jack, who tried to win an Oscar by portraying a man with disabilities who learns to tackle life.

Shriver also said that he asked the members of Congress for a resolution accusing the film’s “hate speech” and requiring more federal support of the intellectually disabled individuals.

According to Chip Sullivan, a DreamWorks spokesman, “Tropic Thunder” is “an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses and makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the-top characters in ridiculous situations.” He also stated that the film wasn’t created to mock or harm individuals who suffer disabilities.

The coalition of the groups said that it had filed a complaint in behalf of millions of members, as well as of associates. Noteworthy criticism was attracted when advertising materials for the film created the center of attention of activists for disabled people.

“Once upon a time there was a retard” is the tag line on one promotional advertisement that was previously posted on a Web site. Because of the complaints, it had to be removed.

Groups such as the Special Olympics and the American Association of People with Disabilities demonstrated at the satirical movie’s Los Angeles premiere at Mann's Bruin Theatre yesterday. While voicing disapproval, the mass of activists was carrying placards with slogans like "Call me by my name, not by my label" and saying catchphrases such as "Ban the movie, ban the word!"