War Dogs

Plot synopsis:
January 2008, AlbaniaTwo masked men pull David Packouz (Miles Teller) out of a trunk and start beating him. One of the men holds a gun to David's face. We hear David's voice saying what kind of gun it is, and he adds that he is an international arms dealer.We see clips of American soldiers posing with the gear and weapons. David says that while some people see a hero serving his country, he sees thousands of dollars worth of materials. According to David, that's what war is really all about: money. Anyone who says otherwise is in on it and is supposed to keep quiet.The scene then switches to the year 2005 in Miami, Florida. David is a massage therapist making $75 an hour, living with his girlfriend Iz (Ana De Armas). On the side, David tries to sell bedsheets to a retirement home, but he learns that "no one gives a shit about old people".At a funeral, David reunites with an old friend named Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill). They hang out after and try to score some weed from neighborhood drug dealers. Efraim gives them $300 for weed, but they pocket the money and ignore Efraim, showing off a gun to make him leave. Efraim walks to his car and pulls out a bigger gun from his trunk, which he starts firing off in the air to scare the dealers away.David and Efraim discuss Efraim's new line of business - gunrunning. He explains to David how to exploit the war on terrorism for profit. David doesn't want to get involved at first, but when he learns Iz is pregnant, he figures he needs to make more money than he does now. He lies to her and tells her that he and Efraim are selling bedsheets to the U.S. army, which she is okay with.After learning the ins and outs of arms dealing and checking through government contracts, David and Efraim start up their own business, AEY Inc, after getting funding from Ralph Slutzky (Kevin Pollak). Soon, the guys earn themselves a contract with the United States Department of Defense to deal weapons. However, they hit a snag when they have Berettas shipped to Jordan, unaware of Italian-made guns not being permitted to be shipped.Efraim interrupts David during a dinner party with Iz and her friends. They have a conversation outside, but Iz overhears their business and learns the truth about what David is doing, leaving her pissed.David and Efraim travel to Jordan and meet with smugglers that will help them retrieve the guns. They meet a man named Marlboro (Shaun Toub), who drives the guys to their destination. They stop to get gas in Fallujah, where the guys wake up and don't see Marlboro. Efraim finds a dead body inside the station, and sees that Marlboro is siphoning gas. David gets a call from Iz, who appears to forgive David for lying to her, even though the lying does bother her. Moments later, the guys see vans approaching, with men firing guns at them. David and Efraim try to get out of there, despite having an empty tank. Marlboro runs after them and hops onto the truck, filling up the tank as they drive. The guys are saved when a U.S. chopper descends, forcing the mercenaries to stop shooting.The guys meet with Captain Santos (Patrick St. Esprit) to deliver the guns. He commends them for driving through the Triangle of Death, and the guys receive their payment.Pretty soon, the guys are making more money and earning more contracts. They start hiring people to work for AEY, and they start doing business with a man named Henry Girard (Bradley Cooper), who is apparently a legend with closing big deals with the army. David and Iz also welcome a baby girl named Ella. However, Efraim becomes increasingly megalomaniacal, even firing one man on the spot just for correcting him on something.David and Efraim then score "The Afghan Deal", which would allow them to supply the Afghan army with a number of weapons and ammunition. The contract came from China, which is a problem because the U.S. army has an embargo on the Chinese military industry, so Chinese ammunition is banned. Efraim has the ammo and weapons repackaged and shipped off anyway.The guys have a falling out with their business when David and Efraim sort out their share of the payment. When David calls Efraim out on screwing people over, Efraim has the two men from the opening of the movie kidnap David and assault him. David breaks off his partnership with Efraim, especially after Efraim refuses to pay David and Ralph back for thousands of money owed to both of them. David decides to just go back to being a massage therapist.David gets a call from a reporter regarding an investigation into the Afghan Deal. He knows he's in trouble. He heads down an elevator and meets Efraim in there. Efraim tries to make it look like he's sorry and that he considers David a friend, but David sees through the facade, which Efraim admits. David punches Efraim in the face. When they get downstairs, they are greeted by a whole team of FBI agents, and the two are arrested.As the film comes to and end, David's voice-over says that Ralph was in on it with the FBI, but he gets apprehended as well. What did them in, however, was the packaging guy that Efraim never paid, so he ratted them out. Both men were charged with conspiracy and fraud. Efraim was sentenced to four years in prison, while David served seven months house arrest, allowing him to stay with Iz and Ella.The last scene has David meeting with Henry. He starts asking a bunch of questions regarding their deals, until Henry pulls out a case full of money, which he offers to David on the promise of "no more questions."

Tags: flashback

Review:
I gave it a 7/10 for slow pacing and lack of humor, which is the opposite of what I expected.I'd still recommend it, just don't expect to be blown away.After watching it for a second time I decided to change my original rating from 7/10 to 8/10, mainly because the acting is just great and I respect the fact that the movie made me think about it and made me want to see it again..
I thought this would be a juvenile buddy movie with a bit of war thrown in but it isn't.Jonah Hill has some funny lines and he does a great job with the over the top character but he can be subtly sinister when he needs to be.
Hangover/Due Date director Todd Philipps makes a film base on the true story of young, entrepreneur gun-runners David Parkouz and Efraim Diveroli who managed to secure a ridiculous contract to supply arms to the afghan army via the pentagon.
The film is highly entertaining, funny in parts but this is not a comedy; its perfectly paced with some great scenes like the duo gun-running across the triangle of death and some nice camera work.
The mishandling of the deal and the pair's subsequent falling out was covered in a Rolling Stone article by Guy Lawson, and later in a book by Lawson entitled Arms and the Dudes.David Packouz (Miles Teller) is a pot-smoking massage therapist working in Miami, Florida, dividing his spare time between his girlfriend Iz (Ana de Armas) and trying, somewhat unsuccessfully, to flog the high-quality Egyptian bed-sheets that he has invested in to retirement homes.
It's not the first time I've seen either Miles Teller or Jonah Hill in something more dramatic, I just may have assumed their first real outing together in a movie would be more of a straight up comedy.Semi based on a true story of two young guys from Miami who became arms dealers, Miles Teller narrates the story of how David Packouz teamed up with this best friend from the tenth grade, Efraim Diveroli and got in too over his head.I was expecting more comedy from the two rather than just two young stars being entertaining.
Teller plays the sympathetic role of a man whose lost in his life at a time when his girl is about to have a baby, and he needs the money.Director, Todd Phillips weaves a story about how people have profited from the war, and done bad things to profit from a bad war.
It's almost like the Big Short, with it's explanation about how the arms game really works, but I always felt that the actual story was getting overshadow by the personalities of the two stars worthy of watching.But overall, It is a very funny film and very entertaining, thanks to the Hill, Teller combohttp://cinemagardens.com.
Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) and David Packouz (Miles Teller) eventually landed a $300 million contract to arm the Afghan military, but government corruption and some illegal decisions on their part proved to be their undoing.All of this went down only a few short years ago.
Phillips stressed that this is not a documentary, but also shared that Lawson–who is more familiar with the story than just about anybody other than Efraim and David themselves–expressed that he was pleasantly surprised with the journalistic integrity of the film.War Dogs is an excellent movie.
If you're trying to figure out what kind of a movie this is, picture The Big Short with a slightly lesser known crew.War Dogs did have a lot going for it, namely the talents of Miles Teller and Jonah Hill, as well as the direction of Todd Phillips (The Hangover Trilogy.) Above that the trailers for this film looked fairly funny, but note that almost all of the genuinely funny parts of the movie are contained in the trailer.
The movie stands apart from the other recent releases and definitely is a must watch film, and delivers astounding performances by all the actors.On one hand, while it has a well drafted story, on the other hand, the screenplay and direction did their perfect job in rendering a masterpiece of movie.I mean, who believes that the US government invites bids from the normal people for their arms and ammunition requirement.
From some shots i even felt like i am watching an action movie which apparently its not one of those The chemistry between the two actor awesome Miles Teller and Jonah Hill are really a good combination for audience , They work really well and i enjoy them a lot throughout the movie.
'War Dogs' is the second movie 'inspired by a true story' that I have seen in the last 24 hours, and is actually the one that I liked better (the other one being 'The Infiltrator').
If I am to chose one easier entertainment with no super-heroes or space-ships, and yet a film that raises serious issues this summer, I will recommend it (but of course, I did not see them all).I am not sure if 'War Dogs' will make it to too many Jewish film festivals, but the two lead characters are Jewish or better say one nice Jewish kid (acted by Miles Teller) and a one Jewish trouble-maker kid (acted by Jonah Hill) who meet about one year after high-school.
Performances wise, Hill has never played his obnoxious American arsehole act to such great effect, making his Wolf of Wall Street character practically Paddington Bear, whilst Teller provides fine support as the slightly more restrained other guy.
Usual hit-or-miss director Todd Phillips returns after the last couple of force fed Hangover duds, but delivers a steadily paced and solidly entertaining biopic which has been marketed as a "Wolf Of Wall Street" for the "Hangover" fans.The film's plot revolves around two young in-over-their-heads gun runners, told from the perspective of the relative straight man of the duo David Packouz, portrayed by Miles Teller.
'War Dogs' is the latest film directed by Todd Phillips of 'Hangover' fame, a comedy/drama starring Jonah Hill and Miles Teller as a pair of amateur arms-dealers.
The choices are quite generic and have been used before under similar circumstances, but they fit the scene they're in and never detract from the experience.Overall, 'War Dogs' is an enjoyable film that is a clear example of style over substance; the performances are good, the script is entertaining and the plot is mostly engaging but a lack of depth hurts the staying power of the picture.
War Dogs does its job of presenting its pretty unbelievable story in a pleasing time passing manner.With a stronger script and direction it could well have been a really good film.
Jonah Hill and Miles Teller give great performances in this film based on a true story.
Although I've put this forward as a criticism this approach is something that I like more than dislike as it does at least make the film a fairly enjoyable experience.As far as acting performances go then this one definitely belongs to Jonah Hill; he basically channels the same character he played in Wolf Of Wall Street and clearly understands what kind of picture that Phillips intend to make.
This is based upon true eventsTwo friends David Packouz (Miles Teller) and Efraim Diverolia (Jonah Hill) venture into the International Arms race and deliver on a contract to provide guns to Baghdad, Iraq.
By the end of its 114 minutes, it all transpires to a half-baked comedy that barely succeeds to generate good laughs while struggling to make a crucial point about the repercussions of international arms dealing.So this film follows the true story of David Packouz (played by Miles Teller) and Efraim Diveroli (played by Jonah Hill), two Miami natives who reunite as friends after many years of no see.
Beyond a pinch of social commentary on the Bush Administration and the established greed and corruption of the lead characters, the film barely reaches any dynamic heights.For a film dealing with the corruption and ill morality of arms business, Todd Phillips at least does a fine job on establishing a comedic field along with the chemistry between leads Miles Teller and Jonah Hill.
Diveroli himself is granted by a fine comedic performance by the ever-charming Jonah Hill who bears a solid barrage of bold-mouth vulgar one-liners and political bashing commentary against the Iraq War. Cuban actress Ana De Armas delivers a fine portrayal as David's worried wife who grows hungry for info on the nasty schemes her husband getting involved in, but perhaps isn't given a whole to do, nor is the 'Hangover' star Bradley Cooper as the shady arms dealer who the duo must face when they make an ill-adviced contract deal.War Dogs is a middling rags-to-riches comedy that may generate some laughs to please moviegoers pursuing for an engaging comedic experience, but suffers from Todd Phillips's trite execution on its true story-inspired.
War DogsThe worst thing about war profiteering is that the ghosts of your victims haunt your money.Luckily, possessed Benjamins don't deter the amoral marketers in this dramedy.Following a string of dead-end jobs, David Packouz (Miles Teller) decides to take his old high school buddy Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) up on his offer to help him sell small shipments of firearms to the US war effort in Iraq.But when the deals start getting dangerous, then downright illegal, David's conscience and pregnant wife (Ana de Armas) start to influence his decisions.A highly fictionalized adaptation of an investigative article later elongated into a bestseller, War Dogs embraces its dramatized narrative for the sake of light entertainment.
Miles Teller and Jonah Hill star in the remarkable true story of two young arms dealers who became way over their head when they try to snag a $300 million dollar deal.
Todd Phillips who brought us the Hangover trilogy gives us a reveal of how much money is invested into the US military, and it can be easily intercepted by two twenty something year old's.Watching Jonah Hill and Miles Teller felt like these two had been working together for years and therefore another successful duo seen on screen this year.
Hill gives us a great performance unseen by any other young actor trying to be a rich arms trader, but unfortunately carries a very annoying laugh throughout the film.Also making an appearance is the always charming Bradley Cooper who passes the torch to the aspiring dealers in providing his assistance in the trade.
This also only really takes place during the middle of the film and from the beginning and end we have the more dark atmosphere of what's going on.All in all War Dogs is entertaining and fascinating in revealing its true story and I'm sure won't let anyone down, but it does not quite make a good balance in humour and drama.
This is my review of War Dogs (spoiler free).*** (3/5) Cast: Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Ana de Armas, Bradley Cooper.Plot: Two men who were best friends in high school decide to reunite and become arms dealers, but as their life they get a deal that could possibly be the best deal for them, however this deal could be a big mistake for these two.War Dogs is sold as a comedy.
Although this feels much like the Wolf of Wall Street especially with the narration this mainly comes from David this makes the whole experience a whole lot better.As the story goes on the comedy standards get better and funnier and this also makes for fun dialogue, mainly said by the two lead characters.
Based on a real life story of David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan, the director has done a great job in converting a dry story into an entertaining movie.Jonah Hill keeps up the comedy of the film through out.
Take a look at the original Rolling Stone piece, or any other article and you'll see exactly what I am talking about.Jonah Hill and Miles Teller portray the two real life runners, Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, despite looking nothing like them.
Jonah Hill deserves all the praise he is getting for his performance and even more, as his presence takes the movie which could have been done better into what is enjoyable.War Dogs is a biographical crime drama directed by Todd Phillips.
With one of those true life stories that you'd never believe had it not actually happened at its disposal, Old School and The Hangover director Todd Phillips and his capable duo of Miles Teller (in need of a hit) and the scenery chewing Jonah Hill (going all method on us) make War Dogs an entertaining and quick-fire experience that shines a light on an interesting aspect of White House law and how strange our modern warfare has become.
A dark comedy filled to the brim with deplorable and colourful characters, language and drug addled life lessons, War Dogs is one of those somewhat uneasy hybrids that flirts the line between becoming and out and out drama or an outright comedy and while Phillips at times finds his directional abilities tested in a tale that has a number of different aspects going on at any one time the story of best friends turned gun running business partners David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli is brought to life by Teller and Hill thanks to their considerable talents and the two actors know doubt elevate the material at their disposal to another level.The talents of these two performers has been evident in such tales as Whiplash, The Spectacular Now, The Wolf of Wall Street and Moneyball and while War Dogs won't be going down on their all-time greatest list and Hill has a tendency to take things a little too far (his Efraim is a nigh on irremediably arrogant creature and his laugh is a little much) the two work up a good cooperation on screen and when they're both doing their thing from a near suicidal gun run through the Iraq wastelands or conducting a government meeting while far from clear headed, War Dogs is a film owned by the actors.Who would've thought that two mid 20 year old's with a tendency for drugs, alcohol and massages could've become arms dealers for the United States Government but War Dogs makes good use of its bizarre yet true story and while the film isn't as smart as it perhaps thinks it is, this is a fun and breezy experience that would make for a great double bill with the underrated Nichols Cage starrer Lord of War. 3 ½ golden grenades out of 5.
This is a true story about 20-something guys (Jonah Hill, Miles Teller) exploiting a little- known government initiative that allows small businesses to bid on U.S. Military contracts during the Iraq War. They begin raking in big money but soon get in over their heads.
For more than fifteen years in the business, starting out with Dreamworks Picture's "Road Trip" (2000), Director Todd Phillips walks the thin red line of controversy by combining a serious world-state war-machinery-benefiting issues in the Middle East with two based-on-real-life-experience characters of David and Efraim, performed by comical tragic beat-matching actors Miles Teller and Jonah Hill, with the latest movie "War Dogs" releasing on August 19th 2016 in the United States to modest box office success.The movie might have deserved a wider audience, because of its fluent too flawless execution in its own right for any department and furthermore the clarified handling by experienced Director Todd Phillips, who seems to have a ball his two action-seeking leads.
Jonah Hill's and Miles Teller's performances are the strongest part of War Dogs, and the story itself (especially knowing that it is based on actual events) is engaging enough that it kept me interested all the way through.
Out of all Todd Phillips work i like War Dogs better as this film has a good story line based on true events and humor; and it features some of the controversial topics as government arms deals and stuff.
War Dogs is a movie that I think is weak, it is weak in comedy, it is not so funny, I did not laugh at it, the script is problematic, the performances are pretty much the same as Jonah Hill until it's different Of other roles, I found him a lot more serious in that film, Miles Telles until just reasonable, and the chemistry of the two does not work as well as it should, the cast still has Ana de armas, Bradley Cooper and etc, the direction of Todd Phillips who did Even good movies, he is average, he loses control of the film during the course, the soundtrack goes to taste, the film does not have memorable moments, and no dialogue, War Dogs is a weak movie, I was never excited to watch it Movie, the more I expected something better.
War Dogs is a comedy drama film directed by Todd Phillips which follows two arms dealers, Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, who receive a US Army contract to supply munitions for the Afghan National Army.This is by no means a memorable film but it serves as platform for two good performances by Miles Teller and Jonah Hill especially the latter who delivers some of the best comic moments of the film.He is almost unrecognizable as Diveroli and Teller and Hill play well off of each other.However the supporting characters come out as rather flat and boring.Todd Phillips is best known for making raunchy comedies like The Hangover or Road Trip but this is his first film that feels more grown up and meaningful.He does a fairly good job here and the cinematography by Lawrence Sher borderlines between flat and breathtaking.There is even a cameo from a particular A-list actor that was enjoyable to see.
The two leads Miles Teller and Jonah Hill make the film as you liked THEM (to begin with) but not what they were doing.