Arms Dealing 101

Rating: 10/10 (11 April 2006)

I can compare LORD OF WAR in a sense to another movie based on actual events, the movie 'Blow' with Johnny Depp. Showing a person in a "hero" role, doing some illegal moving of products for profit/thrill, and then the downside of that trade. This movie concentrates on the characters behind arms dealing. The redeeming quality of the movie is the mostly inner turmoil shown in the lead character played by Nicolas Cage. Look into those descriptive eyes of his as he sells a load of weapons and you see a myriad of emotions portrayed. I have actually spoken with people who do not like Cage as an actor, who liked this movie a lot. The opening credits show a bullet being made, and its point of view down the manufacturing line and into a box shipped to some far off land, and then its final destination: some victim in a firing squad in Africa. War is a very big and lucrative business. For every bullet fired, money goes into someone's pocket, and that someone needs war for the paycheck. That is satirically shown in one scene when a man fires an AK-47 along with a cash register ring timed with every shot. Cage plays Yuri Orlov, who grew up in a Ukrainian family in Little Odessa, New York. Instead of opting to go into the restaurant business, he becomes an arms dealer. He talks his brother Vitaly (wonderfully played by Jared Leto), into helping him in this new career venture. Yuri turns out to be especially gifted in this chosen profession, and excels at every turn, gaining larger and larger clientele and business in the competitive world of dealing arms. Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke) is hot on Yuri and Vitaly's trail as they negotiate deals in everything from guns to tanks with some of the world's dictators and aggressors. Yuri stuffs any scruples he might have about the nature of the trade. But as the business gets bigger, the stakes get higher. Yuri marries his beautiful fantasy woman, model Ava Fontaine (Bridget Moynahan), and has a son, setting up a very nice apartment in Manhattan for them all. His wife is virtually in the dark, wanting to know what her husband Yuri does, but choosing instead to be trusting and optimistic. This movie traces the years in the beginning (1980s), up to the present. The Cold War and countless dictatorships are just "dates on the calendar" for Yuri, as he minimizes the human tragedy of it all. This movie explores the moral implications of the trade, but does not tell you how to feel per se. You will laugh at some things which you should not laugh at, come face to face with the world's wars in a different way, and appreciate the gravity of the human conflicts occurring constantly all around the world. This movie is very entertaining, and very well done. I really enjoyed the great edgy visual style, with wonderful narration by Cage, who is on fire and leaps off the screen in this role. Jared Leto plays the coked out brother who wrestles with what they are doing. Ethan Hawke is the idealistic agent who wants to get out there and catch the bad guy. Nobody is perfect. That is the reality of life. This movie is rated R, which is no surprise due to the violence and subject matter.