Pathetic

Rating: 3/10 (6 September 2006)

Lord of War looked like it had the potential to be a really good flick, but looks can be deceiving. It turned out to be nothing more than a Hollywood bashing of the arms dealer, and guns in general. The storyline deals with a Russian immigrant and his rise to power and wealth in the arms trade. The whole object of the film was to vilify and make international arms dealer Yuri (Nicholas Cage) pay for his sins. The subtitle for the film could have been "Die, gun guy, DIE." They went so far over the top in punishing him that it was laughable. They made him a liar, adulterer, drug user, murderer... they even tried to give him AIDS. It was absolutely ridiculous. I won't give away the ending, but suffice to say it doesn't end up well for poor Yuri. The filmmakers were not at all shy about showing what their political views are. So successful in their mission were they, that I actually contemplated throwing myself in front of a bus out of guilt because I saw a picture of an AK-47 once. I realize that movies are often made today just to advance a certain political agenda, but this was the most obvious attempt I have seen yet. The movie is actually a rip-off of an 80's flick called Deal of the Century with Chevy Chase (which was excellent, by the way). Lord doesn't deliver any of the comedy that made Deal of the Century great. It is so dark and depressing that I wanted to slit my wrists before it was over just for a few laughs. The only amusing part of the film was the cat and mouse game between Yuri and the dedicated law enforcement agent (Ethan Hawke) trying to nab him. The opening sequence was awesome and original, but even there the political message was still obvious. It shows a bullet (from the bullets viewpoint) being made, loaded, shipped, put into a gun, and then going down the barrel to blow someone's brains out. I wonder if Handgun Control Inc. had anything to do with the making of this movie? I give it a 3 out of 10 just for some of the great one-liners that Cage gives in his voice-over narration, which are quite good. If I wanted pure propaganda, I would have rented Fahrenheit 9/11.