WAR DOGS Review

As the wise one, The Notorious B.I.G., prophesied long ago, "the more money we come across the more problems we see." Though Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) lived his life by the codes taught to him in 1983's Scarface it was this piece of knowledge spit in the 1997 hit of the same name by B.I.G. himself that ended up resonating most in Diveroli's life. Diveroli comes to learn this wasn't just a catchy phrase spurned by a rags to riches hip hop artist, but that those words carried real weight in the fact that the more wealth one begins to attain that jealousy and envy are things that simply come with the territory. In War Dogs, director Todd Phillips (Old School, The Hangover) along with co-writers Jason Smilovic (Lucky Number Slevin) and Stephen Chin have taken the incredibly outrageous true story of Diveroli and his childhood best friend David Packouz (Miles Teller) and turned it into something of a strange hybrid of a war drama and comedy where the drama and comedy is inherent to the situation when one has two stoners who become big-time weapons traders. As troublesome as it may be, it is indeed a true story lifted from the article originally published in Rolling Stone by Guy Lawson. It is at one point a case study in all that is wrong with government procurement systems done in satirical fashion as it also criticizes government procurement systems by exploiting how easily two twenty-somethings from Miami secured millions of dollars' worth of weapons contracts from not only the Pentagon, but to arm America's allies in Afghanistan. While Phillips and his co-writers are certainly quick to ridicule and expose this process for how asinine it would seem to give such power to any such individual who wants to sell guns and ammo the writer/director is also quick to supply a throughline of the benefits provided these two young men and the lessons and knowledge they no doubt retained even if much of their time was spent snorting cocaine and hanging out in clubs when they should have been in the office conducting business given it was midday in most of the countries where their clients were located. Phillips simultaneously wants to celebrate that such individuals were able to pull off something as massive as they did, no matter how circumstantial it ultimately was, while at the same time exposing the government for how loosely and even thoughtlessly it spends the tax payer's money. Still, War Dogs isn't a highly political film and it certainly doesn't have its head in the clouds about ideas or themes it could potentially relay from the insane situation it chronicles, but by more or less delivering a straightforward account of the story and allowing the characters and situations to speak for themselves the larger implications are automatically present.

First Trailer for WAR DOGS Starring Jonah Hill

I put Todd Phillips latest flick, originally titled Arms and the Dude, on my most anticipated of the year list so you can bet it is one of my most anticipated movies this summer. I find Phillips to be a fascinating director. The guy has exclusively made broad comedies since Road Trip in 2000, but it was with The Hangover in 2009 that he became something of an institution and by the time he'd finished crafting the third, darker, ultimately rebellious chapter in that men behaving badly franchise that he was a comedy auteur. Phillips has a persona that screams he thinks he's cooler than you and all of the best characters in his movies seem to replicate that state of mind. All of this only made whatever Phillips would decide to do next all the more interesting. This year, that question will be answered with what is now titled War Dogs starring Jonah Hill and Miles Teller. The film tells the story of two young men, David Packouz (Teller) and Efraim Diveroli (Hill), who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan. As this first trailer shows this feels like something akin to Michael Bay's Pain & Gain and I loved that crazy ass movie so I expect to enjoy this one all the more given I tend to like Phillips films more. Originally slated to star Shia LaBeouf and Jesse Eisenberg (which would have certainly been interesting) I'm maybe more excited at the prospect of Phillips working with a comedic talent like Hill for the first time and Teller getting the chance to spread his obvious comedic talents that have been hiding in the wings since That Awkward Moment two years ago. And of course, there is the obvious fact that both Teller and Hill have a penchant for playing assholes really well which will no doubt come in handy given this is a Todd Phillips movie. War Dogs also stars Bradley Cooper, Ana De Armas, Jeff Pierre, Barry Livingston, Shaun Toub, JB Blanc, Brenda Koo and opens August 19th, 2016.