Tries hard, but doesn't really make it's point (MILD SPOILER)

Rating: 5/10 (10 June 2007)

A good cast, decent directing and good editing do not make up for a lack of content. This is especially so in the case of a film which pretends to educate about a very serious subject - such as the arms trade. And even more so when said film claims to be based on actual events.
Whatever actual events were sewn together to create Lord of War, their 'actuality' did little to help me suspend my disbelief. The nearly constant voice-over narration didn't help either. Like many other Andy Niccol films, Lord of War has an odd humor which seems to dwell just below the surface, but unlike The Truman Show, S1m0ne and the brilliant Gattaca, it does not work with the very serious and deadly themes in this film. Niccol has done some brilliant and near-brilliant work, but Lords of War is, IMO, his weakest effort thus far.
In Lords of War, Nicholas Cage plays Yuri - a completely merciless gun-runner, Jared Leto plays his cokehead brother, Ethan Hawke plays an Interpol Agent (why does Hollywood perpetuate this myth????) pursuing him, and Bridget Moynahan plays his completely in-the-dark wife. Cage is fairly convincing, but the script creates problems for his role. Leto and Hawke are outstanding.
The film chronicles Yuri's rise to power and the fulfillment of many of his dreams, falling victim to many clichés along the way, before yielding to an enormous cliché in the end.
While the film certainly spends a lot of time examining how guns are moved about illegally from place to place (and most of the scenarios are highly improbable), it really fails to make any profound points or provide any deep insight into the busine$$ of war. Anybody interested in seeing the film is very likely to know most of what this film tries to teach before they walk into the theater. It is difficult to imagine the film doing anything but preaching to its own choir.
So, if you think the business of selling arms is morally corrupt, and are entertained by seeing your own views illustrated in an exaggerated, propoagandistic and highly unrealistic manner, with a lot of voice-over in place of coherent visual narrative, then this might just be the film for you. O/W I can only recommend it for fans of the principal cast, whose performances outshine the story and the roles they were given.