Guns guns guns

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2017)

War Dogs After movies such as "The Hangover", "Due Date" and "Project X", Todd Phillips is back with another home run movie. He writes, produces and directs "War Dogs" a film based on the true story of two men's quest for riches through government-contracted gunrunning.
Jonah Hill plays Efraim the greedy self-absorbed gun dealer who pulls an old friend into the business. Jonah delivers Efraim as a character who the audience can both love and hate. With a crying laugh and swaggering I'm-better-than-you walk, Jonah believably changes into Efraim and leads you from one emotion to the next. Miles Teller who creates David, an equally memorable character, plays Efraim's friend. Teller shapes David into a frustrated man who's looking for a way out of massaging Miami's rich business class. Teller paints the character as an ordinary man of quiet desperation. David's shortcomings are made relocatable by his frustration. He's the kind of guy who's looking to do the right thing but is trying to succeed in a dangerous business at the same time. Teller's laid back, morally driven character succeeds at seeming so baseline by maintaining a surface calm throughout the film. His appeal comes from the way Teller portrays Packouz's relationship with his pregnant girlfriend. Everything he does is to take care of, and protect her even if it is by lying to her. Towards the end of the film, Teller's portrayal of the anger of being betrayed by a friend seemed so genuine you too hate Efraim right along with him. Allowing the audience to connect better with him, than his coke-snorting counterpart. The script seems typical of most of Todd Phillips movies. Cultural slang was pervasive in some of the characters. Both Jonah and Miles said "Bro" enough times to truly make me believe they did not even know each other's names. Teller's script with his girlfriend endears the couple to the viewer. You can easily tell at he beginning of the movie that they are at peace with each other. As the movie's tension builds so too does the tension between these two characters. There are a few scenes where Teller's girlfriend accuses him of lying to her and his reply is along the lines of, "I did it for you." On the other hand Efraim's character was also built upon through the language he used, with racial slurs and cursing Jonah was able to paint the picture of an ignorant American out of place in a business, country and day in age. The way the movie put events together was also quite interesting. With a series of blackout text frames, Todd Phillips was able to cover a larger time frame than a single running story line would have allowed. The text frames also gave hints as to what would happen in the up coming segment. It helped build excitement and in some cases dread for the characters as it became evident that the text in the fame would eventually turn into dialogue before the next section would begin. Although this did break the cohesion of the piece as a whole, it added an interesting aspect I do not see very often in films. The movie starts with David in a fog encrusted warehouse district with a gun pointed at his face before going back to the beginning of the story. This skipping around in the time frame of the film made me think of Quinton Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction". Although I would not say War Dogs will have the cult following that Tarantino's film does, by starting the movie where he does, Todd Phillips created a more compelling beginning for the movie.
"War Dogs" takes a unique look at the way the United States government handled dealing with undesirables to work the war machine during the Iraq war. With a compelling story, excellent actors, and social commentary extending beyond just the war to a social commentary on the American dream. This story about the desire to accumulate wealth is well worth the nearly two hour run time. I recommend you check this movie out!