Lord of War a Bullet to the Head
Don’t let the title fool you. “Gattaca” director Andrew Niccol’s latest “Lord of War” is not an action-adventure. In fact, in a movie about gunrunning and Third World illegal arms dealing the biggest adrenaline rush doesn’t even involve a firearm. Instead it’s a plane crash, or at least a near-crash, that is the film’s largest action highlight. And even then, as exhilarating and pulse-pounding as it all is, the moment is still overshadowed by a blisteringly sarcastic edge blunting any thrills or chills an audience might usually associate with such an event.
That’s a good thing, because after quickly recovering from a shaky opening Niccol and company manage to pull things together and craft one of the year’s smartest and topically daring dramas. Taking viewers into some of the most dangerous war zones in the world, “Lord of War” asks tough questions about the politics of arms dealing, many of its answers not exactly pleasing no matter which side of the fractured political spectrum, right or left, a person resides. Niccol takes no prisoners, pulls no punches, no one inside its snake-like coils coming away smelling of anything other than mud.
At the center of those coils Is Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage, “Matchstick Men”) and he is the smiling ringmaster helping to facilitate insurrection, rebellion, murder and genocide in whatever corner of the globe is willing to pay the right price for his wares. First with the assistance of his little brother Vitaly (Jared Leto, “Alexander”) and latter completely on his own, Yuri builds an empire shaking hands and making deals with demons and fiends throughout the Third World. But not the Devil, for whether he knows it or not that particular evil rests far closer than the gunrunning businessman knows, slowly carving out a niche of his own deep inside Yuri’s heart.
As simple as all this sounds, “Lord of War” is a surprisingly complex character study with more shades of grey then a film noir retrospective on TCM. Very little, if anything, here is either clean or easy. Take dogged Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke, “Assault on Precinct 13”). The cop may appear to be a righteously forthright strictly by-the-book sort of guy, even stopping one of his own men from killing Yuri when they have him on the ropes but not with the goods, but even he isn’t above chasing the fame bringing someone like Orlov to justice can potentially bring him.
Then there is Ava (Bridget Moynahan, “I, Robot”), the gunrunner’s stunningly beautiful former model wife. She’s more than happy to live off the largess her husband’s business provides, not a fool or completely ignorant of the fact he’s making his millions legally no matter Yuri’s proud claims to the contrary. But she doesn’t ask questions, doesn’t fight to know what’s going on, never caring enough to make a big deal out of the situation. Yet, when she does find out, is it hypocritical of Ava to suddenly become righteous in her indignation, or is she hiding behind this newfound resentment in fear of losing her extravagant lifestyle?
Like all of Niccol’s films and scripts (“The Truman Show,” “Gattaca,” “S1M0NE,” “The Terminal”), “Lord of War” is about an outsider looking at the world through his own set of personalized sunglasses. For me, the most interesting thing about Yuri is how much I liked the guy. This is a man who adores his wife, is a good father to his child, loves his parents and would do anything to make sure his baby brother is happy. In most ways, he’s a model citizen, living just the type of American Dream many fantasize obtaining. But the man is the Devil. No matter how hard I wanted him to see the light, no mater how much I wished he’d change his ways, Yuri’s moral compass is so adrift he doesn’t even realize what he’s doing isn’t just wrong, but immoral.
It goes without saying Cage was born to play this guy. The chameleon who tore apart parts in “Leaving Las Vegas,” “Vampire’s Kiss,” “Face/Off” and “Adaptation” returns with a vengeance, the actor ripping right into Yuri with a calming fury unlike any I anticipated. It’s astonishing how smooth Cage is, how easy he brushes off the moral complexities of what it is he does for a living. What’s most remarkable, though, is how nice he is while doing it. The guy really is likable, his soothing smile and quiet demeanor enough to put a person immediately at ease. But what Yuri does is monstrous, and the more I found myself giving into Cage’s charisma the more I realized just how evil the character was letting himself become.
The rest of the cast is good if not exactly spectacular. Moynahan cries beautifully and looks good in designer clothing, Ian Holm (“The Lord of the Rings”) is properly slimy as a rival arms dealer who purports to take sides, Eamonn Walker (“Unbreakable”) provokes justifiable shivers as an African warlord while Sammi Rotbi (“Tears of the Sun”) is downright terrifying as his trigger-happy son. It is Hawke, Niccol’s “Gattaca” star, who really tears into his role, however. His Valentine is such a righteous glory-hound I almost wanted to see him fail in his obsessive pursuit of Yuri just so it would knock him down a notch or two. It’s a great performance, a perfect counterpoint to Hawke’s insecure and unsettled rookie cop in “Training Day,” and I could easily see that character there evolving over time into this one here.
Visually, Niccol plays “Lord of War” more like a documentary then as a star-driven feature. From war-torn African arms deals with encampments of refugees cluelessly waiting for their own slaughter just off in the background, to line upon line of Russian tanks and rifles just waiting to be part of a $32 billion Ukrainian heist, the director shoots it all with an unblinking eye. He’s fearless in his truthful audacity, so much so my eyes kept popping straight out my head scene after scene. But then, seeing that the filmmaker based his script on the real life exploits of five different arms dealers, used real statistics available from our very own government, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. If anything, it only makes “Lord of War” even more frightening, more surreal, the idea the United States isn’t just a bystander but the world’s leading participant enough to shatter even the most clueless out of their comfort zone.
Some of it doesn’t work, of course. A late-night journey through some African slums is far too forced and obvious (Yuri is such a bad guy even hyenas won’t eat him and his own guns suddenly misfire when he points them towards himself) to really work all that well, and some of the humor isn’t near as acidic or funny as I think Niccol believe. Worse, the opening fifteen minutes or so of the picture is pretty darn terrible, it taking both Cage and his director almost the entire first act to find their footing and get things under control.
But when this does finally happen, “Lord of War” doesn’t just fly it soars. Opening with a shot of Yuri standing serenely upon a city street littered with empty shell casing, so many it looks like he’s standing in an ocean of them, this is a movie completely unafraid to ask tough questions and not expect easy answers. It’s hard-hitting and aggressive, laced with a fearless ability to look complexity in the eye and do the one thing most dramas coming out of Hollywood can’t - actually tell the truth.
Film Rating: êêê (out of 4)
