Writer: Stephen Chin, Todd Phillips, Jason Smilovic (Screenplay) Guy Lawson (Article)
Starring: Miles Teller, Jonah Hill, Ana de Armas
Plot: Loosely based on the true story of two young men, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a three hundred million dollar contract from the Pentagon to arm America’s allies in Afghanistan.
Tagline – Money, corruption and the American dream
Runtime: 1 Hour 54 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Enjoyable Crime Comedy
Story: War Dogs starts as we follow David Packouz’s (Teller) story, he was a massage therapist and lost his money in a bad investment, with his girlfriend Iz (Armas) pregnant, he is left with little ideas for money until his old friend Efraim (Hill) returns to town. Efraim is an arms dealer that has been finding a way to sell weapons in the war.
We follow the two young men as they find a way to get one of the biggest deals done, but is this going to take a toll on their personal lives.
Thoughts on War Dogs
Characters – David is a young man, he works hard with his massage therapist job while trying to make a business of his own. When this goes wrong he is saved by his old childhood friend that introduces him to the world of arms dealing, he is telling the story to us too. Efraim is the old school friend of David’s that brings him in as a partner, showing him the ropes and just how much money could be getting made in this industry. He has a reputation that doesn’t make him one to trust at the times, which could ruin deals and friendships.
Performances – Miles Teller and Jonah Hill are both great in these roles, they have great chemistry between them and it shows in their moments together and gives them both the time in solo scenes to be their own characters.
Story – The story shows the rise of two unlikely young men that became one of the biggest international arms dealers in recent American history and how the greed can take over even the strongest friendships. We are told this story through one of the two men involved, so we do only get to see their own point of view of everything, when you feel there might be more to certain moments in the film. This is an easy to watch film and plays out just like Lord of War which does feel slightly more entertaining though.
Comedy/Crime/War – The comedy comes mostly from the idea of this feeling completely out of place watching these young men enter this world of crime during the war time of selling weapons.
Settings – The settings show how the characters go from comfortable America to countries with less money that offer these men a chance of something massive, this is good for the clash of cultures idea.
Scene of the Movie – The first deal.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Only seeing it from one point of view.
Final Thoughts – This is a good Todd Phillips style comedy that we all know how his style comes through, it does have good moments throughout and strong performances too.
Overall: Good crime comedy well worth watching.
Rating