Lord of War-...And to think It All Began in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn***

Rating: 7/10 (9 December 2006)

Nicolas Cage gives an admirable performance in this film as a Ukrainian émigré seeking a better life for himself in Brooklyn. The family came here pretending to be Jewish so as to get out of the old Soviet Union faster. It is true that Russian Jews intermarried among Jews so as to leave the Soviet Union but carrying this to the point that they acted as Jews once they were here was a bit ridiculous.
Cage and his brother get into the life of gun-runners. We follow their escapades through various countries. They supply the guns to the highest bidder. They couldn't care less why the guns are being used.
The film deals at length with their trips to a corrupt Liberian government.
Cage marries along the way and has an ideal life which eventually catches up with him. The film deals with a CIA agent (Ethan Hawke) who actively pursues him until he realizes that Cage is also a government plant who will be allowed to continue to do this as long as the interests of the American government is served. Corruption was never worse.
Very nice cinematography marks an engaging film.