Adding colour to a very grey area

Rating: 8/10 (14 November 2005)

Writer/director Niccol's uniquely-spun morality tale is a worthwhile watch. With Nic Cage, he makes gun-runner Yuri an ethically bankrupt but rather likable chap, which has an unsettling effect on the audience. Should we admire him for his undoubted acumen and pragmatic approach to the distasteful arms trade or vilify him as a human leech who grows fat on the misery of others?
Yuri takes us through his business (to him, it's all just business) in a first-hand account which pegs him as smart, smooth and inventive. His justifications for what he does are questionable at best, but at least he gives them - "I'd rather people fired my guns and missed, just as long as they're being fired." But he's sometimes too confident for his own good - and that of others.
In many respects, this is like 'Blow' with guns, only better. It's all very Faustian but Niccol keeps it informative (What's an AK-47? Here's a quick history...) and sharply paced, keeping a dark sense of humour but largely staying true to the ultra-serious subject matter.
The film's weakness lies with the secondary characters (though not the actors playing them; they're fine) - the younger brother (Leto) who goes off the rails; the loving wife (Moynahan) who says she doesn't need to know the truth but reacts predictably when she does; the dogged lawman (Hawke); the evil dictator (Eamonn Walker) and his trigger-happy son... We're familiar with these people so their fates hold no surprises.
But the jarring life-of-a-bullet opening sequence is inspired, and scenes featuring seas of bullet shells, mountains of guns and tanks as far as the eye can see leave the audience in no doubt that this is a very grim business.
One question Lord Of War doesn't answer is this: why do they call them 'assault' rifles? Don't all rifles assault?