The film is totally engaging, even though not always on an emotional level; there are so many issues striding through the screenplay it's hard to relate too closely to Yuri, although there are moments.
Lord of War (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:138
Fresh:85
Rotten:53
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: While Lord of War is an intelligent examination of the gun trade, it is too scattershot in its plotting to connect.
Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins
Genre: Thriller, Theatrical Release
US Box Office: $24,033,036
Synopsis: Based on actual events, this black comedy/drama stars Nicholas Cage as international arms smuggler Uri Orlov. The story follows Uri from his humble beginnings as a Soviet immigrant in 1970s... Based on actual events, this black comedy/drama stars Nicholas Cage as international arms smuggler Uri Orlov. The story follows Uri from his humble beginnings as a Soviet immigrant in 1970s Brooklyn and peaks with his involvement in selling off the stockpiled arsenal of post-Cold War Ukraine to--among other top clients--the sadistic African dictator André Baptiste, Sr. (Eamonn Walker). Jared Leto costars as Uri's little brother Vitaly, whose conscience and a burgeoning cocaine problem get in the way of business. Ethan Hawke is good as a sanctimonious Interpol agent with a vendetta against Uri, but the film's biggest dose of onscreen gravitas comes from Walker, whose Baptiste seethes with a heavy, serpent-like malevolence. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol, the film makes fine use of the brisk stream-of-consciousness narration style that Martin Scorcese brought to the true crime genre with GOODFELLAS (1992), and a near constant flow of action and classic rock songs that ensure a speedy, riveting ride through three decades of global carnage. Cage, who coproduced, lets his patented oddball magnetism slowly change polarity, until viewers realize they've been led into a moral quagmire by falling for his self-delusory spiels about supply and demand, making this one of the bravest and most jet-black comedies of its decade. [More]
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan, Ian Holm, Sammy Rotibi, Eamonn Walker
Director: Andrew Niccol
Director: Andrew Niccol
Screenwriter: Andrew Niccol
Producer: Philippe Rousselet, Norm Golightly
Composer: Antonio Pinto
Producer: Nicolas Cage
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Reviews for Lord of War
The film's approach to violence is unflinching: this is what poor people are doing to each other with the guns the West sells them, it screams -- but there's no suggestion it might be stopped, or slowed.
Andrew Niccol keeps the film interesting with frenzied camerawork and startling imagery. It's too bad the story itself didn't take as many chances.
[W]hile the film is powered by a righteous anger, it is also very funny, stylish and daring.
...absorbing, even as it makes hamfistedly obvious moral points along the way.
An unflinching portrait of a man who needs to have his ethics examined.
[Cage] makes everything bearable, applying his usual talent for giving unsavory characters some attractive traits.
Niccol’s attention to detail perks up the screenplay, and constantly strengthens the ideas that he’s frantically trying to communicate.
Nicolas Cage delivers the guns and the goods. Powerful images compliment a gripping story.
(The way you feel about Nicholas Cage’s character is exactly how you might feel about the leaders of all governments. They are indeed cut from the same bloody cloth).
As Yuri plainly gets off on risk, he's also broadly representative of cavalier attitudes toward risk concerning vulnerable individuals and communities.
In showing us a man who tries not to notice what happens after he closes the deal, Niccol gives us a fast and funny movie that should leave you feeling a bit queasy.
Niccol is no stranger to hot-button issues, but he outdoes his previous efforts by injecting this satire of war profiteering in the Halliburton age with a wicked arsenic wit.
This is Niccol’s bravest movie to date, and it is an unquestionably brilliant work.
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May 11, 2006:
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