Brave, intelligent but flawed.

Rating: 5/10 (20 September 2005)

Lord of War is a tale of a gunrunner exploiting global conflicts for his own monetary gain.
SPOILERS.
Nicols deserves admiration for bringing this story (based on truth) to the big screen. Morality of greed, exploitation, relationships and the value of life is questioned, the film is superbly shot, with terrific detail and use of location, however, much of the script is woefully cliché, much of the dialogue amongst the family relationships is pure soap opera, and some obvious realities are let down- the leads do not age a day in 20 years, the costume never changes (Cage travels the world with small briefcase and a similar suit throughout - possibly a deliberate tool to illustrate his 'just business'attitude however, ludicrous attire when worn in both West Africa and Eastern Block). There are just points made, with humour, unfortunately let down by the attempt to humanise the central character. Worth a watch, but falls flat upon leaving the theatre...