The outrageous true story tracks the meteoric rise and downfall of twentysomething war profiteers Efraim Diveroli (Hill) and David Packouz (Teller), who in the mid-2000s, exploited a government loophole allowing small businesses to bid on U.S. Military contracts online, and wound up with a $300-million deal from the Pentagon to arm American allies in Afghanistan. A brand new featurette has just been released for the comedy-drama, which hits cinemas on 26th August.
Advertisement
The movie, inspired by a true story, follows the pair as they get a $300 million deal through the U.S. Department of Defense to arm the Afghan military.
Director and co-writer Todd Phillips, best known for chest-thumping comedies like “The Hangover” trilogy, reaches beyond his comfort zone to tell this complicated and fraught tale. War movies are a dime a dozen though, and the reason this one is so worth seeing is because it is so insanely different.
And although most actors receive casting calls before they audition for certain parts, Miles’ connection to War Dogs was actually prompted by a casual phone call from his dad Michael. Here’s to real ingenuity, guts, greed and war dogs.
On top of that, as explained by the film’s director, Todd Phillips, Diveroli “didn’t want to cooperate with the movie, because apparently he’s kind of writing his own book – doing his own thing”. But, post-Hangovers, Phillips presents a slightly more sobering War Dogs, loosely based on Guy Lawson’s 2011 Rolling Stone feature Arms and the Dudes. “We’re making so much money it’s nearly like selling Chinese bullets to the USA military whilst wild eyed cut throat Albanians sharpen their knives around you”, Packouz quipped counting another wad of hundred dollar bills.
David Packouz (Miles Teller) is a 22-year-old living in Miami and trying to hustle out a living as a massage therapist for rich dudes. “But I know James Corden auditioned for it because they showed that on Late Night the other night, Shia and James reading in NY”. We would go to parties and people would go to parties and people would introduce themselves: “I’m a stockbroker or I’m in real estate…”
Things gradually get less amusing – appropriately so – as the guys’ since-grown company goes after a contract that will be worth hundreds of millions. But Hill effectively captures this larger-than-life character who has a knack for telling people what they want to hear and a never-wavering drive for deal making. “It’s not anything that I abuse in any way, but I’ve shot pretty much every kind of gun”. Claiming “we’re not pro war, we’re pro money”, they soon have matching Miami condos, Porsches and an appetite to get a bigger slice of the “gold rush in Iraq”.
Advertisement
The movie still works at this point; there aren’t many big laughs, but there are enough twists and turns to keep things interesting and mildly amusing.
