Review of War, Inc. (2008) by Shontelle C — 03 Dec 2008

I'm sure that everyone has particular expectations when they go to see an assassin movie, a post-apocalyptic movie, and a John Cusack movie. But if you rent War, Inc, prepare to abandon those expectations. While the main character is in fact an assassin, the movie tends to focus on everything but successful assassination; rather than post-apoc, it's more in-medias-res-apoc; and Cusack's character, while not completely forsaking his sensitive but inept rom-com roots, manages to be quite a bad-ass.

War, Inc is a movie that can't quite seem to make up its mind between action, romance, sociopolitical commentary and humor. Fortunately, the resulting mix of all four turns out to be both incisive and hilarious, not least because it very naturally pushes the envelope--juxtaposing, for example, a war-torn insurrectionist village with from a weapons-manufacturing trade show not an hour's drive away, put on by the company supplying munitions and technology to both sides fighting in the village. Also just ridiculous enough to work is the character of Yonica Babyyeah (pronounce it phonetically), a Middle Eastern Britney-Spears-clone-with-a-heart trying to escape an arranged marriage. I'm not typically a fan of Hilary Duff in any context, but here, as a real pop star paying a fake pop star, she sizzles.

Also arresting are the veteran presences of Joan Cusack and Marisa Tomei, and Dan Ackroyd's cameo, while not up to his usual par, is still humorous. Ben Kingsley, sadly, was stuck trying to bring gravity (as is his natural talent) to a character whose very presence was supposed to make fun of itself--not a horrible pairing, but not a great one either.

It has been said that ridiculous movies cannot be good, and vice versa. So maybe War, Inc is no Oscar-winner, but I'd argue that its very ridiculousness is one of the factors that makes it good, or at least good for a laugh.