Review of Lord of War (2005) by Andrew W — 02 Jun 2014

FOUR STARS out of FIVE.

Starring:

Nic "Anything for a paycheck " Cage.

Jared "It's all taken care of, sir" Leto.

Bridget "Daniel Patrick" Moynahan.

Ethan "Take me back Uma" Hawke.

Director: Andrew "LOTR was shot in my home town" Niccol.

What I had: air.

Who Saw It With Me: air.

Helicopter Parents' Guide: L, V, AS.

Lord of War starring Nicolas Cage is an enlightening tour through the realities of the world of arms dealing and how it relates to the conflicts in developing nations. The best thing that I can say about the film is that it takes the position of the protagonist, Yuri Orlov, in that it is detached and merely lays out the story. It is for the viewer to decide whether to be enraged, sickened, or educated of all of the above.

A fantastic cast helps tell the story of a young immigrant who turns to arms dealing to be successful and to do "something big" with his life. Starting with selling a single gun to gangsters in New York, Orly eventually works his way up to the pinnacle of arms smuggling. Showing a great amount of resourcefulness and skill in negotiating with anyone and everyone, Orly finds a way to work himself into and out of very high pressure situations by maintaining an otherworldly calmness.

Director Andrew Niccol puts together a sensitive and fascinating film that shines a light on a topic normally reserved for political science classes or disconnected evening news reports. Nic Cage does a great job being Nic Cage, and to tell you the truth, I can really just about watch him in anything he does no matter how badly the rest of the film is. Fortunately, this film rises to the level of very good if not great.

Other people who turn in great performances, include Jared Leto who portrays Vitali Orlov, Yuri's brother. While throughout much of the film, Vitaly appears to not have his act together, in the end, he just might be the one who had his moral center right all along. Bridget Moynahan takes a great turn as Yuri's concerned and ultimately fed up wife, Ava. And none other than Ian Holm plays a rival arms dealer. Ethan Hawke does a great job as a foil for Yuri in Interpol Investigator Jack Valentine, and a scene near the end is totally made by the dawning of disappointment he shows in his face as he realizes that he is just not going to finally pin Yuri down like he wants to. The movie is violent obviously and I can't recommend it for anyone who is just looking for some fun, but if you want to have your eyes opened in ways you never imagined and your ideals challenged, you should give Lord of War a shot. No pun intended.