>>REVIEW
LORD OF WAR
STARRING Nicolas Cage, Jared Leto and Bridget Moynahan
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Andrew Niccol
Opens Friday, September 16
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Are you ready for a film that exposes the inner politics of gun running and a profit trail that, according to writer-director Andrew Niccol, runs through the United States government? The concept alone is enough to have a left winger like Michael Moore drool like he’s just ordered a double Whopper combo.
And Niccol’s Lord of War is a film that we can all chew on long after the closing credits roll. While the black-comedy approach is debatable, there’s no question that Niccol’s cynical approach has bite. And for good measure, he has one of the superstars of all things sardonic, Nicolas Cage, leading the charge.
Based on actual events, Lord of War introduces us to Yuri Orlov (Cage), a Ukrainian immigrant living in a large Russian-Jewish settlement in New York known as Little Odessa. He narrates his own evolution from disgruntled restaurant worker to arms dealer, a business venture that surfaced when the Soviet Union dismantled and Yuri and his brother Vitali (Jared Leto) were able to get their mitts on some stolen weaponry. Apparently, selling black market AK-47s, grenades and other boom goodies seemed more attractive to these boys than slinging borscht.
As Yuri discovers, such an unusual vocation has both perks – he lands a trophy wife, a supermodel played by Bridget Moynahan – and disadvantages – he’s relentlessly dogged by Interpol agent Ethan Hawke, a cat-and-mouse game that persists throughout much of the movie. Then there’s the bloodthirsty dictator (Eamonn Walker) who ain’t exactly a treat to deal with. On top of that, ultimately crippled by the atrocities he’s witnessed, Vitali becomes a raging cokehead.
To our hero (or anti-hero), though, arms dealing is strictly business. Right or wrong, Yuri is just doing his job, making wry observations about the global practice of selling weapons to the highest bidder.
Wade through the satire and it’s pretty easy to see Niccol’s agenda here – the superpower countries are bad, bad, bad, and we should empathize with free-market hucksters like Yuri, who are simply taking advantage of the opportunity presented to them. While the argument is kind of a tough one to swallow, the movie itself is much easier to take – sharp, droll and as cool as its star. |
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