That’s an insane amount of money for a couple of guys in their early 20s who were just fakin’ it till they made it.
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The amusing characters, however, slowly become serious as the script tries to wrap up what is a serious plot. Recent film to do this would be This is the End, Men in Black 3, Neighbors 2 and Bad Moms.
The film ranges from drama to action, crime and dark comedy.
“War Dogs”, based on real events, tells the story of two twentysomething friends who get into the arms business as the USA waged post-9/11 war on Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s the ostensibly true story of a pair of 20-something bros who became wealthy arms merchants in 2008 by selling weapons to the USA military. They zip around in matching Porsches living off the “crumbs” that bigger contractors won’t bother to chase, underbidding rivals for relatively modest contracts with the Bush II government to keep ordnance flowing to soldiers Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bradley Cooper, one of Phillips’ “Hangover” regulars, shows up as Henry Girard, a murky figure who is not allowed to do business with the US directly and helps Efraim and David put together their $300 million bid for what becomes known as “the Afghan deal”. So war is really just an opportunity for them. It has a good soundtrack and does its best to tell a pretty cool story.
“They didn’t see that the role I played wasn’t fully supporting them”, he chuckles. Between Hill’s impeccably sleazy performance and a catchy screenplay, War Dogs is a summer hit that will have audiences inexplicably rooting for its complicit protagonists. But his control of tone and character is uncertain and he relies too much on songs (“Fortunate Son”, “Time in a Bottle”) to carry the story. The script is very tight and I found that the movie really moved. His character is also many times the moral center while Jonah plays a polar opposite. Of the two bros, he’s the everyman, the character we’re meant to identify with and the actor makes us understand-but probably not agree with-his choices. The highlight of the film is one hilarious encounter with a dirty arms and ammunition supplier (played by Bradley Cooper). He is greedy, insane and a true a**hole to boot. He’ll align himself with any religion, any country, any cause as long as it turns him a buck. Who would have thought that it would be so easy to sneak into a war zone? Numerous jokes he says fall flat too, with many of them coming out of left field and dragging the whole scene down.
War Dogs is released 26th August.
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War Dogs gets 5.5/10. Yet there are enough moments that are too ridiculous for a comedy like this. The ending was a little odd but it made some sense if you gave its meaning some serious thought. But after a string of dead-end jobs, the offer to join his buddy for big money is too alluring to pass up (his gig as a Miami Beach massage therapist produces some awkwardly amusing moments). We see a soldier in battle, he sees $17,500, the cost of outfitting G.I. Joe with weapons and gear.
