When Story and Character Works, but Everything Else Goes Wrong

Rating: 5/10 (27 September 2016)

War Dogs is the latest installment in a hopeful trend. These Comedies derive their soul from the absurdism of our most powerful institutions and our underlying fear of this madness. Two twenty somethings Packouz (Teller) and Diveroli (Hill) make millions selling weapons to the United States. Their only attribute: unfounded audacity. Packouz is the innocent straight man in way over his head while Diveroli is a relentlessly hilarious psychopath. I wish I could end the review right here. Narrative and character. When these two elements are working it should be impossible for your movie to fail. Unfortunately, the creators could not trust their story or their audience. A pointless chapter structure, omnipresent narration, overbearing movie music, all gimmicks used to enhance already sufficient material. The nuts and bolts of War Dogs are so botched the jokes play better in the trailers.
A moment of silence, please, to reflect on the tragic demise of half the gags in War Dogs. Packouz is competent and ambitious, but with a woeful lack of direction. He gets by as a massage therapist before joining forces with Diveroli. The job makes ends meet, but it comes with plump codgers conveniently losing their towels. The joke: things we do for a living, eh? Obvious subtext: Packouz is craving any way out. No more explanation necessary. Still, the moment is butchered by the narrator's play by play. Worse is when Packouz and Diveroli must confront top government officials. Our Packouz as narrator drones: We were not prepared, we were nervous, we were out of our depth, and finally, we decided to smoke a bud. We already appreciate this pair and the why behind the last second marijuana breakdown. The sheer ridiculous factor dissipates when everything is meticulously explained. These kids are making a 300 million dollar deal stoned, let me watch. It follows that the best moments occur when events are beyond explanation. In search of weed, Diveroli gets hustled for a hundred bucks. He calmly walks to his car, pops the truck, picks up an automatic weapon, and starts firing in broad daylight. Protesting Packouz is met with a high, idiosyncratic chuckle that will become the character's trademark. Just give Jonah Hill an open opportunity and let him kill it.
Unfortunately, jokes are not the only casualty. War Dogs repeatedly trips over its own style. The movie opens with Packouz accosted by organized crime. Starting with one of the final events of the story is a respected method of building anticipation. Here it is not effective because you only need to watch Diveroli for 5 minutes before understanding this enterprise must end in disaster. Momentum is also a common casualty of the stylistic quirks. There are chapter breaks, a cut to black and an announcement of the title in white font. Yes, War Dogs was based on a book, but if feels that someone had watched Kill Bill and thought it would be cute. Speaking of Tarantino, now infamous movie tune "Girl You'll be a Woman Soon" makes an appearance. And "Don't Fear The Reaper." "Sweet Emotion" too. "Fortunate Son", "Wish you Were Here", "Behind Blue Eyes". If classic rock is not your style, we have 50 Cent, Pitbull, and Beastie Boys. It's like someone wanted to compile a list of the most pedestrian music that has already appeared in at least 50 films. When I heard "What is Love?" I thought I was going insane. This rant might seem absurd, but I promise it does not even cover half the soundtrack. Many appearances are not cute five second samplings either. Cease all dialogue. Maybe add a bit of slow motion. We are taking a minute break from your feature film. Often these episodes occur at the end of each chapter, when emotions and energy should be at their zenith.
War Dogs is more than a way to disappear two hours. Its better, but because of the wasted potential, also sadder. Jonah Hill is not just funny, but an actor that improves every film he performs in. I hope in a month I can forget everything in War Dogs except the big picture.