As flawed as it is, still has some value as it delivers some measure of truth.
Lord of War (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:138
Fresh:85
Rotten:53
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: While Lord of War is an intelligent examination of the gun trade, it is too scattershot in its plotting to connect.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong violence, drug use, language and sexuality
Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins
Genre: Thriller, Theatrical Release
Theatrical Release:Sep 16, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $24,033,036
Synopsis: Based on actual events, this black comedy/drama stars Nicholas Cage as international arms smuggler Uri Orlov. The story follows Uri from his humble beginnings as a Soviet immigrant in 1970s... Based on actual events, this black comedy/drama stars Nicholas Cage as international arms smuggler Uri Orlov. The story follows Uri from his humble beginnings as a Soviet immigrant in 1970s Brooklyn and peaks with his involvement in selling off the stockpiled arsenal of post-Cold War Ukraine to--among other top clients--the sadistic African dictator André Baptiste, Sr. (Eamonn Walker). Jared Leto costars as Uri's little brother Vitaly, whose conscience and a burgeoning cocaine problem get in the way of business. Ethan Hawke is good as a sanctimonious Interpol agent with a vendetta against Uri, but the film's biggest dose of onscreen gravitas comes from Walker, whose Baptiste seethes with a heavy, serpent-like malevolence. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol, the film makes fine use of the brisk stream-of-consciousness narration style that Martin Scorcese brought to the true crime genre with GOODFELLAS (1992), and a near constant flow of action and classic rock songs that ensure a speedy, riveting ride through three decades of global carnage. Cage, who coproduced, lets his patented oddball magnetism slowly change polarity, until viewers realize they've been led into a moral quagmire by falling for his self-delusory spiels about supply and demand, making this one of the bravest and most jet-black comedies of its decade. [More]
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan, Ian Holm, Sammy Rotibi, Eamonn Walker
Director: Andrew Niccol
Director: Andrew Niccol
Screenwriter: Andrew Niccol
Producer: Philippe Rousselet, Norm Golightly
Composer: Antonio Pinto
Producer: Nicolas Cage
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for Lord of War
An unflinching portrait of a man who needs to have his ethics examined.
Might have worked as a documentary, but isn't nearly entertaining enough as a work of fiction.
Educational as well as entertaining, but its free-floating plot as it drifts from event to event makes it a series of favorable memories rather than a fully-formed picture.
As Yuri plainly gets off on risk, he's also broadly representative of cavalier attitudes toward risk concerning vulnerable individuals and communities.
With these evildoers exuding such charisma, it's no wonder that the film's message about the immorality of gun-running gets diluted.
There are the makings here of a really good feature or an even better documentary, but as it stands, Lord of War is not quite either.
Nicolas Cage is enormously, paradoxically likable as a genuine monster.
Plays like a smarty-pants Esquire essay by David Foster Wallace. Even if you agree with it, the movie is so endlessly pleased with itself that you wish you didn't.
Lord of War has a hip, gonzo energy to it and it's often transfixing to watch and listen to. But it's finally just as empty as the man it's about.
The poison arrows of satire that writer-director Andrew Niccol aims at international arms dealing and the great powers who let it happen for their own gain -- the U.S. dangles prominently on Niccol's hook -- are frustratingly scattershot.
This fast-paced and undeniably intelligent film still qualifies as a disappointment.
His heavy-handedness and inability to humanize and explain his hero mean that even the choir Niccol is preaching to won't be moved by Lord of War.
Its denunciation of rich-nation profiteering at the expense of poor-nation exploitation has you ready to pull your 'enough already' ripcord.
Nicolas Cage as a globe-trotting, under-the-counter arms dealer? It works better than anyone had a right to expect, and precisely because of the idea's seeming incongruity.
It's a confrontational piece of filmmaking that examines political subject matter without the safety net of genre artifice.
When scenes, performances and even individual shots in Lord of War are considered alone, they're brilliant.
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| 77% 77% | The Hangover |
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| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
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