some brilliant spots among a few flaws in the script, most of 'Lord of War' crackles with interest

Rating: 8/10 (24 September 2005)

Lord of War is a film that inspires the historical, almost documentation-like, interest (via a constant voice-over) in a similar way like with Demme's Blow, only here used far more frequently, for better &/or for worse. Nicolas Cage, at times, brings more fascination to the film for a viewer with his narration than does his performance, as his character Yuri Olyev, gun traffic man extraordinaire, tells his first-hand story of the past twenty years. Not that his own story isn't gripping at times to watch, and sardonically funny, but there is something about just hearing Cage's voice, as opposed to hearing it alongside his physical performance (not always top notch, here better than most), and writer/director Andrew Niccol collides his panache with usually incisive and ambitious direction with the narrative.
If I could really point out the parts that I thought were keeping Lord of War from being a better movie, even a great one, I would, but it's just certain things sometimes left un-said (maybe for the better of the story, or Yuri's history), or un-tied, or tiny patches of dialog that just don't work for me at times. However, this may be not much of an issue with many moviegoers; Niccol, who's best work to date for me (and I haven't seen Gattaca yet so it's an inconclusive statement) was his script for the Truman Show, which like here takes the right jabs at societies gaping flaws in human nature. Yuri is a terrible man, but he is honest about his dishonesty (again, like Blow), and Cage seems to understand that just as much as Niccol, and while its not his best tortured soul performance (that would go to Bringing Out the Dead), he brings the right amount of humanity that the character needs. There is also a good performance in Jared Leto, and some standard, dependable fare from Ethan Hawke. But performances aside, the juiciest bits in the film (like an un-scheduled landing on a road in Africa, both amusing and horrifying; Cage's trips to Liberia) make it really worthwhile to see in the end, despite a lot thrown in the way of the audience. Perhaps that is one other flaw for me, is that there is so much given to the audience in way of learning about trafficking, as well as Yuri's story, its slightly over-loaded. The parts, in the end, are probably far greater than the whole.
However, in a time when parts in films are not even good let alone great, it makes Lord of War a semi-important film for its time. It's a character study as well as a history, a romance as well as a thriller, and a comedy as well as a dark drama. As Hawke's character says to Yuri, "you know, I'd tell you to go to hell, but I think you're already there", sums it up for me.