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.
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 is morally unsettling on its surface, and then you realize the surface is all you're going to get.
The viewer needs to bond with Yuri or we won't care what happens; but a lot of what happens is distasteful.
Niccol wants us to identify with the sinner, but he has no taste for the sin.
A bleak comedy, funny in a Catch-22 sort of way, and at the same time an angry outcry against the gun traffic that turns 12-year-olds into killers and cheapens human life to the point where might makes not only right, but everything else.
Niccol's ambitious, blacknasty take on arms dealing certainly has its share of niceties ... but it can never quite get a fix on the delivery of its volatile subject matter.
Niccol layers in smart comedy with ample action and falters only when attempting to hammer home moments of poignancy.
A trippy, high-budget public service announcement shot like a luxury car commercial.
A long and didactic history lesson, the repetitive Lord of War is like a Michael Moore message movie.
(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).
Thanks to all of the voice-over, Lord of War feels like a two-hour trailer for a better movie.
As slick, flashy public-service announcements go, Lord of War is no Constant Gardener.
There's a glibness to the treatment that smacks more of sophomoric black comedy than sharp satire, but the cinematic verve is hard to resist.
We've seen hundreds of gun-crazy action movies, but few films that tell us anything about the business of buying and selling weapons.
Unlike Cage's reliable merchandise in the film, Niccol's supposedly explosive exposé misfires with every other shot.
Nic Cage's performance is so adept that he makes a gun-runner appear to be a likable character.
The story and characters are vivid and compelling, although the film is far too dense for its own good.
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May 11, 2006:
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