A Review by Phil Calabro
2005, Lions Gate Films, Dir. Andrew Niccol - Starring Nicolas Cage, Bridget Moynahan, Jared Leto, Ethan Hawke, Ian Holm, Eamonn Walker, Sammi Rotibi, Yevgeni Lazarev, Shake Tukhmanyan, Jean-Pierre Nshanian, Tanya Finch, Lize Jooste, Sajad Khan, Yaseen Abdullah
Roger Ebert recently wrote, "A slow movie that closely observes human beings and their relationships can be endlessly fascinating, while a thriller with nonstop wall-to-wall action can be boring, because it is all relentlessly pitched at the same tone." (link) I guess that quote really stood out the more I thought about 'Lord of War', a one-toned movie in itself. Andrew Niccol sways the audience into the story with its guided style and sweeping flair posed by Nic Cage and this grooving cast, but draws all of this together with an advocating message that will leave the audience astonished. Our protagonist, a private arms dealer, is presented as the ordinary man who could've lived an ordinary life - but chose it doing business but never realizing the outcome of his work. Is he a pawn in the destruction of humankind, or is this outsourcing of life natural? This reflection makes 'Lord of War' is one of the year's best films.
Yuri Orlov (Cage) is a Ukrainian man working in his family's restaurant, who has been wanting to live the American dream for years but has been fruitless in the process. When recognizing the worth of selling guns in a war-ridden society, Yuri teams up with his younger brother Vitale (Leto) to sell Uzis to gangs. He starts attending arms conventions, and slowly but surely works his way up the ladder selling used ammunition to small armies across the world - Yuri has already begun to fall into the groove of being a private arms dealer. After Vitale begins to suffer a strong cocaine addiction and put into rehab, Yuri begins freelancing on his own. He wooes the love of his life, model Ava Fontaine (Moynahan) and eventually marries her, as well as making deals with his uncle Dmitri (Lazarev) for old arms that the former Soviet Republic doesn't need anymore. But when the big threat in his life comes from a vengeful Liberian dictator (Walker) and grim Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Hawke), Yuri begins to question his job's motives in the first place.
Nic Cage is fascinating to watch as Yuri, who is so consumed in his job that it puts all 'hard-working fathers with not enough time for their children' cliches to death. In his nonchalant tone of voice, Yuri doesn't seem to fully grasp the fact that he is responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians every day - another sign of how consuming his job has become. A fast talker, a smooth operator, and holding one fat wallet, Nic Cage plays the ambiguously rich man with such sizzle and style that it's hard to upstage him. Jared Leto presents an interesting, although over-the-top, contrast to Cage's character. It's a bit of a stretch to involve cocaine into the story, but this element can easily be overlooked and considered unimportant. Bridget Moynahan and Ethan Hawke are decent characters, as caricatures of society's elite - the adorable top model and the wise-ass agent who's too big for his britches. Eamonn Walker is delectably corrupt as the Liberian dictator Andre Baptiste, with such natural devilishness.
This is not an argument against war, nor an argument against the Second Amendment - but an advocacy that presents the question, "How can business do this to people? Where is the common decency left in some humans?" The focus here isn't the gun or the battle that uses the gun, but the individual - the character of Yuri has realized the obvious: people are naturally trigger-happy, it's just natural to commercialize it. So why not bring it to the universal level and sell guns to the entire world? Andrew Niccol doesn't upscale Nic Cage's behavior to make him look larger-than-life, but just as an ordinary man - it is fascinating and frightening to see one person's potential in assisting the destruction of other's lives while making his own more valuable. 'Lord of War' is more entertaining - and I use the term loosely - in the fact that it is more real than anyone could ever imagine it to be. The effects on society are enormous and scary, as well as the battle that Yuri fights with himself for continuing with his business.
'Lord of War' has an impressive message, almost as impressive as the way it's executed. Audiences will be pleasantly surprised by the effect they will get leaving the theater, with its deadpan message and sharp wit. I highly recommend the movie for anyone and everyone, regardless of your political standings and morals.
