War
Dogs
Based on the true story (but with tons of stuff thrown in and altered
to make it more dramatic), Miles Teller stars as David – a
lost soul trying to find his way through the world as he works as a
professional masseuse in Miami.
As David begins to realize he needs to start making some real money,
his buddy, Efraim (Jonah Hill), blows back into town with an offer he
can’t refuse.
Efraim picks up small Pentagon contracts to provide weapons, artillery
and more to the forces fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, these
small contracts are quite sizable and profitable for his small
operation, and he needs a new partner to help pick up more business.
Before you know it, Efraim and David have a growing reputation within
the field, and attempt to score the biggest contract they have ever
imagined. To make it work, they enter into highly illegal and dangerous
deals with shady characters which could cost them the contract and
their lives.
War
Dogs has been marketed as some
gonzo crazy comedy about arms dealers gallivanting around the Middle
East, but it’s more of a drama than that.
Writer/director Todd Phillips and his co-writers want to make War
Dogs a deeper movie about
betrayal, friendship, some sort of indictment on the military
industrial complex and more, but that’s alot to bite off and
chew.
Because Phillips is attempting to accomplish so much, he half-succeeds.
The ideas and themes are there. The general structure of the story is
there. The obvious twists and turns are there. The whole movie is just
there.
War Dogs
is a solid movie, but not a thrilling one.
Teller is a serviceable lead actor, but War Dogs doesn’t
have
those great moments a serviceable lead actor needs to put in an amazing
performance.
Hill is strong when Efraim is forced out of his comfort zone and
dealing with the stress and enormity of the situation, instead of
walking around like the coolest guy on the block.
Both are fine, but a better script full of more energy and better
storytelling to help us understand the growing bond among these two.
Without a better establishment of that bond, the climax
doesn’t have the emotional punch it needs to grab our
attention and make War Dogs an impactful movie.
War
Dogs is rated R for language throughout,
drug use and some sexual references.
114 Minutes
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