I don't care whether it is based on a true story or not, Andrew Niccol really has a stinker on his hands. While The Truman Show (which Niccol wrote) was at least witty in its self-deprication, Lord of War is just plain depressing. And when it tries to be anything more, it's just more depressing.
I'm sure that Niccol thought that he was making some sort of statement against war or guns or whatever, but this movie was so littered with senseless violence (much like the real world) that you almost couldn't look at it.
Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune remarks:
"The film is morally unsettling on its surface, and then you realize the surface
is all you're going to get."
This film is brutal, both in imagery and just all around story. Unfortunately, it can't be saved (like Niccol's last penned film, The Terminal) by its star, Nicholas Cage (The Terminal was somewhat saved by Tom Hanks).
Cage does a serviceable job as the completely morally bankrupt Yuri Orlov, but on screen, he is completely outacted by a surprising Jared ("I'm pretty") Leto, who plays his brother and Ethan ("he was good in that one movie") Hawke, who plays an Interpol agent determined to bring him down. Bridget Moynahan does the best acting I've seen her do in this movie as Orlov's trophy wife. But the story is just depressing. It tries to be satirical and just isn't.
I truthfully almost walked out of it (and I almost NEVER do that).
My IMDb rating: 3 out of 10
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