Squirm-inducing,downward spiraling morality tale

Rating: 9/10 (7 August 2006)

Early on in this film,you know exactly who and what Yuri Orlov(Nicolas Cage,brilliant as actor and narrator)is. It's the how and where that he's about to show you.
Yuri is an arms dealer. An independent one at that. When he started in the business as a dealer in the early-to-middle eighties,he is very much a small-timer,a little fish in an ocean that is populated by mostly large nations and rogue militaries. He still manages to find stashes and sell,but usually to fringe groups and drug-dealers. Whne the fall of the Soviet Union occurs(over a period of time spanning 1989 to 1992),this opens up business for Yuri. Now,with huge stashes of guns,grenades,bombs,aircraft and tanks left behind from the Cold War,provided by family connections in his family's home country of Ukraine,he becomes a highly coveted deal broker in weapons,coveted by governments large and small.
He is also a tragic figure:a little man who felt insignificant growing up in Little Odessa in New York. He worked at his family's restaurant along with his wild,irrepressible younger brother Vitaly(Jared Leto,melding his musician instincts into this character) before witnessing a mob hit which impressed upon him the belief that the world is always looking for someone to supply them weapons,hence his career path. He is also smitten with the most popular girl from the neighborhood(Bridget Moynahan,beautiful and just a hint oblivious)who goes off to become a model. Once his biz takes off,he is able to put his family up,get his brother in on the business and sweep the girl of his dreams off her feet,marry her and start a family.
Naturally,when someone deals in unholy alliances,the Devil comes back for his pay,and Yuri is about to slowly but surely pay that price.
Smartly written and never underestimating the intelligence of its audience,this movie,penned and directed by Andrew Niccol,gives you a picture that is rarely(if ever)pretty and quite damning by its path. Interwoven in this story are(among others) the incorruptible Interpol agent(Ehtan HAwke),the rare independent gun-runner(Ian Holm)whose business clashes with Yuri's and the Liberian dictator(Eamonn Walker,very strong here)who has somehow managed to get into Yuri's head and knows how to push his buttons. The film traces Yuri's path from confident,cool and self-deluding businessman to a soul-challenged interloper who leads a double-life on borrowed time. Cage's voice is perfect as narrator,and director Niccol intersperses the tale being told with a few choice narrative cut-aways,lending a sort of surreal sense of the story.
It is a story of violence and moral weakness,and judging from the people who've backed and/or put their names on this film(among them Cage himself co-produces and the show is endorsed by,among others,Amnesty International)there is a sense of conviction behind it. The commitment here really shows,and that is why it works.