Review of War Dogs (2016) by Michael D — 08 Apr 2017

First Hit: I enjoyed this film because it showed the absurdity of how the US Government created a system allowing two young men in their 20's to bid for and win large contracts to provide arms to and for our government.

Based on a true story, I was both flabbergasted and amazed at the ingenuity of Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz (Jonah Hill and Miles Teller respectively) to find ways to bid for and win US Government arms contracts. David is a massage therapist in Miami and his fiancé Iz (Ana de Armas) becomes pregnant. Efraim, his old junior high-school friend, comes back into town with a proposition to help him in his new business, arms dealer. Together they start landing contracts, but the one that puts them on the map is one where they end up having to drive cases of Beretta hand guns from Jordan to Baghdad. The complications to their story included, David lying to Iz about his whereabouts and what he was doing as well as Efraim's deep seeded greed and how it plays out in their deals as well as his personal relationships. Bradley Cooper as Henry Girard a US Citizen arms supplier (middle man) who is also on a watch list because of some previous nefarious dealings. Many of the scenes were made good because of the acting of both Teller and Hill.

Teller was strong as the somewhat gullible friend, who in the end, was not so gullible. Hill was a blast. His laugh and intensity was perfect for the kind of guy that uses people to benefit himself. Armas was very good as David's fiancé and mother of their daughter. Cooper was well cast in that he brought the right kind of intensity and friendliness when it suited him. Stephen Chin, Todd Phillips, and Jason Smilovic wrote a fun and intense script based on a Rolling Stone article. Phillips also seemed to have a strong hand in the direction as the various countries and scenes were well constructed.

Overall: Although not a blockbuster, it was a fun film and enjoyable to watch.