Leaves you cold, but then maybe it ought to....

Rating: 7/10 (2 October 2005)

I have been running "Lord of War" through my head; cinematically, it promises to be a more interesting film than it ends up being. The first shot of the path of the bullet from start to bloody finish promises a stark look at the gun-running industry, and to a degree, there is some truth to it. However, I also wonder how much of the film is Hollywoodized. I kept on thinking that it felt like a Hollywood story of corrupt power like that of Tony Montana or Johnny Depp in "Blow."
The strange thing about Cage's character is perhaps that he doesn't want to be a "warlord;" he doesn't want an empire. He wants to be a great provider for his wife and family; tragically, he's more in love with his product than any human being. Leto does an awesome job as Cage's brother, Natali, a man who is as loving as he is insecure.
The film is extremely well-written, and Cage does a great job of portraying his character sympathetically though certainly morally bankrupt. You do begin rooting for this guy to get away (well, at least I did) with his crimes.
I wish I had walked out of the film with a greater sense of anger or passion about preventing gun violence: instead, I walked out feeling I had been hit with a cynical, bitter look at gun violence that didn't motivate me at all.
There's a monologue I once read in college that talked about how "the hand was made for the gun," and not the other way around. I suppose if the film had delved more into our natural tendency towards gun violence and less towards the morality of selling arms, it might have delivered a stronger punch for me.