Review of War Dogs (2016) by Justin P — 06 Jan 2017

We have all seen this movie before: A good guy who is down on his luck gets pulled into an illegal business making tons of a money by his loud mouth, immoral best friend. This particular movie passes the bar due to two things: Teller and Hill's performances and the direction of Todd Phillips.

I will always have respect for Teller after Whiplash, it was a great performance. He hasn't picked the best films to do in the past but this one was a good choice. He plays the nice guy with the girlfriend trying his best to make money, but just keeps failing. This role is not that hard to play, especially when it is supposed to simply ride shotgun next to Hill's insane character, but Teller gives the character depth. He is smart and charismatic so the audience can like and respect him and not write him off as just the good "nice" guy in the duo. Hill is good. Not as good as the critics I read are saying, but good. It is very hard for Hill to be unlikeable, but he pulls that off in War Dogs. He is a manipulator, liar, backstabber, etc. He is a lighter version of Joe Pesci from Goodfellas. He is unattractive, looks like someone not to be taken seriously, but he is very explosive and dangerous. One of the best scenes in the movie is when we discover this when Hill pays for drugs and the drug dealers take the money and then ignore him and tell him to leave. It has a funny but disturbing result.

Todd Phillips, known for his great comedies, did an excellent job directing this movie. It felt on par with David O. Russell's films, such as American Hustle. Gritty at times, but never too dark. The humor was right on queue, never unnecessary or over the top (which I imagine is hard to do with an actor like Hill). I give him props for that. He took a true story and handled with respect and intensity. Awesome for a director jumping genres. This was a better success than Bay's similar style true crime drama Pain and Gain. I hope Phillips continues to dive into features like this because he has great timing with comedy and an eye for what really matters: story.