extremely powerful message

Rating: 10/10 (12 March 2006)

More than the quality, it was the message of this film that struck me. I believe it is very courageous of this filmmaker to take a stand on the subject of arm proliferation, showing how it affects humans and society by instantaneous death and worst, by latent, yet even more massive killings. Getting AIDS ("which can kill you in 10 years") in an arm-infested country becomes such an insignificant risk! Most of Andrew Niccol's works are very powerful. This one is inspired from a crude reality. I remember reading an article about a Ukrainian arm-dealer a few years ago. The "character" and situations in that article resemble so much the ones in this film. And it touches much more than arms: ethnic identity, family matters, addictions (of all sorts) etc. It is not an "action" movie... although some people may see it like that. The acting is very good. Highly, highly, recommended, although it'll leave you aching. And, after all, it may not help change anything, which is another point in the movie: "... if I stop, another one will take my place next day". It left me with the cynical thought that it may all be just about human's nature, at whatever evolution stage it is at this point.