Very Good

Rating: 9/10 (24 February 2006)

Lord of War is truly a movie that will repulse some movie goers in the same way that Munich will repulse some others. But this does not mean that either movie is bad or morally wrong- merely a view of what has been going on in the case of Munich and what is going on in the case of Lord of War.
Nicholas Cage plays Yuri Orlov- a Ukranian who from the ground up manages to build up his gunrunning business to the point where it can decide wars. He justifies his business transactions the same way as a man who runs a diner- claiming that it is a basic human function that humans will kill each other and that you may as well make a buck out of it. It's this sort of amoral pragmatism that seems to stick by him throughout his life, despite the horrendous atrocities he witnesses and commits, including the death of his main rival in Sir Ian Holm. However as the police, headed by Ethan Hawke, hone in on his private life, he finds the complex amount of lies he has spun beginning to unravel.
Lord of War is another movie that focuses on some of the problems in our society, by handing us basic figures through Cage's character as well as looking at various dodges, and corrupt sequences that show that no matter what you try to do, money talks, and in arms dealing, it seems to scream.
Cage gives a fantastic performance as Orlov, reminding one of Johnny Depp's Agent Sands in Once Upon a Time in Mexico with his pragmatic dialogue. Holm is also great as his rival, giving a concealed menace to his role. Hawke however, seems to want to play the role like a boy scout and so doesn't quite come across as genuinely smart enough to catch someone as slick as Orlov. Other than that though, this movie is truly an eye-opener and should be seen by everyone who has an interest in world affairs, if only for Cage's speech to Hawke in the interview room.