Review of Lord of War (2005) by Jonathen S — 06 Mar 2010

One of the most powerful, potent and cinematically compelling examinations of "necessary evil" this decade. One of the most overlooked films I've seen. Niccol shows real maturity, although he cribs a lot from the Scorsese and Coppola books on genre-picture filmmaking. This is a fine companion to Reitman's Thank You For Smoking, both films presenting the "merchants of death" from their own self-questioning perspectives.

Lord of War is a fantastic picture. Cage excels in these brooding evil mankind roles, and both Hawke and Leto are compelling and grounded. Moynahan stands out, partly because this is the best film she's been in, partly because she's actually pretty good.

I'm surprised at how this managed to fly under the radar when it came out, and I'm glad I finally got around to watching it. Years from now, when everyone else realizes how great Nicolas Cage is/was (or hey, even if they don't) this film will be recognized as a classic piece of filmmaking in the same manner as some of the great 70's classics.