The movie, which hits theaters Friday, centers around two 20-something friends who become global arms dealers and try to supply the United States Military during the Iraq War.
Advertisement
At a key moment, David and Efraim run across the beach for a hug after they learn they’ve landed the contract of a lifetime. “Efraim and David seem to be built for comedy, and switching to drama makes the audience unfazed by the stakes”.
As Efraim and David set about scamming their way through their arms deals, Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” kicks in, specifically the line “We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl” that emphasises how they are going in circles, making the same mistakes. “How two young guys can make millions from the US government by selling Soviet weapons back to the government is just mind boggling and makes for a very entertaining movie”. There can be no snoozing through the dog days of summer after seeing “War Dogs”.
But there’s a reason Hill is a two-time Oscar nominee; he’s a frat-boy Falstaff with a sinister edge, able to speak volumes in a simple, insincere laugh that recurs throughout War Dogs. “It’s all relative. But this movie is definitely on the lower end of the way most movies are made nowadays”. “War Dogs” paints an unflattering picture of the flawed government contract bidding process, but it does so in a remarkably entertaining and amusing fashion. “Their performances in War Dogs proves Jonah and Miles could be the next big on-screen duo”. That’s right, while getting high- very, very high- two kids, one with a little college and the other a high school dropout, used cell phones and computers to bid on and negotiate the sale of weapons to the military. War Dogs manages to portray that period in a dark and amusing way by blending director Todd Phillips’ brand of bro comedy with social commentary. With Tellers’ character narrating the story, it has a lot of parallels to movies like Wolf of Wall Street and Goodfellas.
There are a handful of laughs in this movie, but for every earned chuckle there is a gratuitous shot of Hill shooting a machine gun that is somehow supposed to be amusing.
“The movie brings together a very accomplished team, which makes for a technically sound movie”.
What makes it work, for the most part, is the relationship between its leads. It is, simply put, a good movie. There is just one major difference this time – War Dogs is based on true events.
Advertisement
All in all, “War Dogs” is Phillips’ attempt to reveal the high-level of ridiculousness within the USA government. No matter where you stand on the military, war or guns, you can still enjoy what this movie has to offer.
