Preachy film about the gun trade

Rating: 6/10 (2 October 2005)

This movie is earnest, well-meaning, virtuous, right-thinking, long-winded, and confused. It might well have started out as a newspaper op-ed page article. It does have a few funny bits, and the performances are adequate, but the preachy tone drains the movie of whatever vitality it might have had. There is one plot oddity; Nick Cage's arms dealer has a son who never seems to age. He is always a toddler, though the film stretches over many years. Maybe this has some hidden meaning, or maybe it just shows sloppiness. I might have a little more respect for this heavy-handed sermon if it had shown me something about the international arms trade. But no, the Cage character just announces he is in the business and proceeds to get rich and guilt-ridden. The movie tosses around jargon ("end-user certificate" for example) but demonstrates no knowledge of how the business works. What a bore.