Review of War Dogs (2016) by Maksim B — 02 Sep 2016

Hilarious, refreshing and benefitting from outstanding leading performances, War Dogs is the funniest and the most entertaining 2016 summer comedy. With quite predictable plot development the movie is far from being an award-contender. It simply delivers what everyone expects from it: brutal humour, R-rated entertainment and two actors who manage to deploy the type of energetic acting which will make you watch the movie not because of the story, but because of them!

Shockingly to many, War Dogs is loosely based on a true story and how two young, "entrepreneurial" guys exploited the US war machine. The movie surprises the audience and overcomes its story predictability issues thanks to three main reasons. The first one is naturally the true story behind the events surrounding the lives of Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) and David Packouz (Miles Teller), which might seem totally impossible and will make you raise your eyebrows at least several times during the movie. The second reason why Todd Phillips (the director of The Hangover trilogy) has done it again is because he has deployed a gripping and simple sort of dark-humour. The type of jokes may not fully uncover the nastiness of the world he describes, but the absurdity of everything happening is so entertaining that you will be laughing with a guilty pleasure. Last, but not least, War Dogs benefits hugely from the leading acting duo. If Jonah Hill could be a predictable choice for a role in this movie, Miles Teller's presence is a complete and quite refreshing surprise. His character grows from an unsecure loser to a shady entrepreneur who is willing to spend time in Albania, but to ensure the success of his business. Yet the biggest assed of Todd Phillips' delivery is Jonah Hill. He delivers a cult role as Efraim Diveroli which will be remembered with his unscrupulous behaviour and one of the most remarkable, manic laughs ever. Hill's character is quite one-dimensional, compared to Teller's one, but the ease and the touch with which Hill plays his role is impressive and represents a huge chunk of the overall fun.

As already said, the movie is painfully predictable, especially if you have an idea what might be happening. Several moments of goofy scenes and the overall lack of real momentum or climax deprive War Dogs from becoming an all-time R-rate classic, but this does not prevent it from being an absolute must see comedy.

In conclusion, War Dogs is a totally enjoyable late summer R-rate entertainment which is worth being seen both in the cinema as well as at home. Refreshing, shocking and with compelling performances it delivers even more than it promises: raw entertainment!