War Dogs (2016)

Review

114min

Genre:       Fact-based, Comedy, Crime, Drama, War

Director:    Todd Phillips

Cast:         Miles Teller, Jonah Hill, Ana de Armas…and more

Writers:     Stephen Chin, Todd Phillips, Jason Smilovic… and more

-Synopsis-

Outlandish comedy/drama from the director of ‘The Hangover’ and ‘Starsky & Hutch’; based on a true story of how young stoners from Miami became perhaps the most unlikely international arms dealers ever, managing to play US government systems and secure a $300 million contract to arm America’s allies in the Middle East using weaponry from questionable sources.

Based on Guy Lawson’s 2011 Rolling Stone article and subsequent book ‘Arms and the Dudes’; writer/director and master of the “R-rated” comedy Todd Phillips (Road Trip, Old School), applies his irreverent touch to an extraordinary and troubling contemporary story of greed, corruption and the “American Dream” gone wrong.

Miles Teller stars as “David Packouz” and Jonah Hill as “Efraim Diveroli”; two twenty-something Miami childhood friends who turned Diveroli’s modest online domestic gun dealing business into an international arms partnership by 2007, taking advantage of volatile government systems and political turmoil, thanks to the fallout of the U.S. “war on terror”, and the demand for weaponry in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 Like the recent ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ and ‘The Big Short’ did before it; ‘War Dogs’ stokes fires of moral outrage by applying a dynamic Hollywood spark to a real but hard to believe story, of yet another thing which happens under our sleeping noses while the very notion of justice and democracy gets crushed under the weight of capitalism.

‘War Dogs’ shares more than a poster style with 1983’s ‘Scarface’, echoing several elements from its perverse “American Dream” story, as well as referencing the Pacino classic throughout the film. But despite some dramatic Hollywood embellishment and narrative changes, such as making the 3 person real story into a duo proposition; ‘War Dogs’ is far less over-the-top and outrageous than you might expect, and a lot less darkly comic than you might hope for from a Todd Phillips movie.

Sure there are some brazen moments of excess, but the film doesn’t  bend over backwards to look at the motivation for the unscrupulous acts of its thinly written main characters, which are often the spice that makes these movies entertaining. Instead it feels more like a straight dramatization of the actual story, with the only melodrama coming in the form of an underwhelming story of friendship and loyalty… or lack thereof.

‘War Dogs’ ultimately comes off rather clinical and lacks a real edge considering the subject matter, which means that it doesn’t glamorize the actions of its subjects as much as some other films. The lads get what’s coming to them for not only manipulating a system, but defrauding it too; but of course the system and surrounding culture remains, almost encouraging others to do the same.

Apart from being a well if unspectacularly told true story which should outrage but might not surprise audiences; its greatest triumph is that it skims the surface of a much ignored symptom of modern western society, and the American Military-industrial complex which shapes the country… a hungry beast which constantly needs feeding.

‘War Dogs’ touches on a notion which may be uncomfortable for some and a revelation for others; that when you see through the politics, ideology, nationalism and tragedy, for the most part, war has always been and will probably always be a racket. An ancient business of power and money upon which our society is built, and given our nature, business will always be good.

The Bottom Line…

Although lacking in edge or real humour and not boasting the entertainment or creativity levels we’ve come to expect from a Todd Phillips project; two solid lead performances and a morally outrageous true story contribute to an enjoyable and eye-opening experience, which pries open unwilling eyelids to the uncomfortable realities of war and a society which has evolved around it.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Lord of War (2005)

Morally outrageous drama with dark comedic undertones and loosely based on a true story; starring Nicolas Cage as an American immigrant turned international arms dealer, who’s confronted by a minor crisis of conscience and a determined federal agent as he continues to use the fall of the soviet union and a flawed US system to flog his dangerous wares around the globe.

Directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke and Jared Leto among others.

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