rooting for the villain

Rating: 8/10 (21 September 2005)

I really enjoyed this movie. I went and saw it on a date (not the best choice), but it was great. I was a little perturbed by my own reaction to it, because I found myself rooting for Yuri Orlav, not despising him... And I hate guns, or maybe just the people that he (and real arms dealers) was selling them to. Either way, it was weird, and slightly disturbing, but at the end of the movie I realized that arms dealers, too, have a purpose in life, not just those people that do good. As was said at the end of The Good Son (the book, not the movie), "Without the darkness there can be no light." Also, I really enjoyed Nicholas Cage's performance in this one. It's nice to see an actor explore other characters that are different from his usual portrayals. It's like watching Robin Williams in "Good Will Hunting;" he wasn't funny, he was real. In "Lord of War," Nick Cage is NOT the good guy, or he guy next door, or the loving older brother. I mean, he loves his little brother, but he's not like the character he played in "Gone in 60 Seconds." That brother would never do what Yuri did. All in all, I enjoyed it once, but I'll wait to see it again when someone I know buys it on DVD.