War Dogs: Average Guy Movie Review

Have you ever wondered what Lord of War would look like if you combined it with The Hangover? Watch War Dogs!

This is a movie that you have to approach in the right way to enjoy. If you're looking for an accurate and serious take on a major scandal involving guns, the US military and the George W. Bush administration look elsewhere. However, if you want to watch a comedy-drama inspired by true events (including the aforementioned scandal) then this is a movie for you. The major inspiration for the story is that of Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz which was the subject of an article in Rolling Stone and a book called "Arms and the Dudes". These two school friends would bid for contracts to supply munitions to the US military, with the simple goal of making themselves rich, all of which they did whilst smoking a lot of pot. The events of the movie have been described as "heavily fictionalised and dramatised", some of which are based on screenwriter Stephen Chin's experiences, including the chase through Fallujah.

I think it's fair to say Todd Phillips knows how to make an entertaining movie, and regardless of the historical inaccuracies he has done so with War Dogs. Phillips assembled a great cast, Jonah Hill delivers a stand out performance as Efraim Diveroli, Hill and Miles Teller (playing David Packouz) have a great chemistry and play off each other very well. Bradley Cooper makes an interesting appearance as a fellow arms dealer with a shady background and very questionable morals. As much as War Dogs has a similar feel to The Hangover, at no point does Phillips try to make these guys look good or gloss over their actions. There's no Lesley Chow here, these guys are arseholes and are protrayed as such. It's interesting to note that the real Efraim Diveroli not only refused to meet Jonah Hill but also sued Warner Bros., Todd Phillips and Bradley Cooper (as a producer) in an attempt to block the release of the movie.

War Dogs may not be conventional in its approach to this sort of subject and yes I would have preferred a more historically accurate story. But I think Todd Phillips was the right choice to helm this project, Diveroli and Packouz aren't your usual big corporation CEO types! They were two young stoners who played the system and won...for a while anyway. The unconventional, 'Hangover-esque' approach works because everything about this whole story is bat shit crazy!

7/10

To read the Rolling Stone article that inspired War Dogs click here.

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