This absurdist political farce has its moments but requires a deft touch for satire ... perhaps no one could have made the uneven script work.
CommentJul 30, 2009
War, Inc. (2008)
29
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:79
Fresh:24
Rotten:55
Average Rating:4.5/10
Consensus: War, Inc. attempts to satirize the military industrial complex, but more often than not it misses its target.
Theatrical Release: May 23, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $0.5M
Synopsis: An assassin is assigned to kill a Middle East oil minister. His cover is that he's producing a big trade show that includes a wedding between a local... [More]
Starring: John Cusack, Hilary Duff, Marisa Tomei, Joan Cusack
Director: Joshua Seftel
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REVIEWS FOR WAR, INC.
Sophisticated political satire, ridiculous farce, black humour, spoof, intellectual game playing and comic invention
Feb 6, 2009
It’s as if the movie is stuck in a muddy middle, unable to go whole hog with its sending up of toxic Americana and unwilling to be serious about exploring how toxic it really is.
Oct 29, 2008
War, Inc. squanders some top-tier talent (Marisa Tomei, Sir Ben Kingsley) as well as our patience.
Oct 18, 2008
Top CriticWhat is supposed to be a sharp parody is so slow, we're always several steps ahead.
Oct 18, 2008
Either too cartoonish, or not cartoonish enough.
Oct 18, 2008
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Oct 18, 2008
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Oct 18, 2008
This John Cusack-driven exercise in scorched-earth political comedy is neither as dark nor as timely as intended, and certainly not as funny.
Oct 18, 2008
Top CriticPiercingly funny political satire with terrific cast is on view in this future-set story.
Oct 18, 2008
If there's one thing a comedy needs, it's a good exit strategy.
Sep 26, 2008
Despite flashes of comic inspiration and an abundance of anything-goes boldness, this well-intentioned but wobbly satire is a chaotic free-fire zone.
Jul 18, 2008
Top CriticNice try, but this hallucinatory polemic never jells.
Jul 14, 2008
Any hopes you might be holding out for a smart, sophisticated political satire will immediately be squashed at the sight of Dan Aykroyd on the toilet.
Jul 6, 2008
Only occasionally hits the target.
Jul 3, 2008
Top CriticWhile its plot aligns War, Inc. with other, higher-profile action-thrillers, its political critique is more explicit and its ad campaign more oblique.
Jul 3, 2008
...there's plenty of material ripe for savage satire out in the world right now, and while I approve of the targets War, Inc. took aim at, I can't say that it ever scored a direct hit.
Jun 29, 2008
Cusack as a mercenary in bulltetproof designer suits and Hilary Duff doing a kinky Arab superstar sexpot shoving scorpions down her crotch, can't save this satire crossing the line between the chaos of war and the chaos of filmmaking.
Jun 28, 2008
A film that confronts the absurdity and violence of modern warfare by taking it to the surreal and goofy next level.
Jun 27, 2008
LATEST NEWS FOR WAR, INC.
January 21, 2009:
Razzies Name 2008's Worst Movie Nominees
No awards season would be complete without the Golden Raspberry Awards (AKA The Razzies), awarded each year to the very worst movies to hit Hollywood. This year's winners will be announced on Oscar...
More...
June 23, 2008:
Ben Kingsley Is Everywhere
Think you're seeing Ben Kingsley everywhere lately? It's no optical illusion -- his roles in The Love Guru and The Wackness are just two of the many projects he's got lined up this year (and beyond).
More...
May 22, 2008:
RT Interview: Joan Cusack on War, Inc., the Unofficial Sequel to Grosse Point Blank
Joan Cusack and her little brother, John, have co-starred in ten films together since the early 1980s; this week they join forces again to skewer the military industrial complex, the corporatization...
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April 28, 2008:
Cusack Invests in War, Inc.
It's getting buzz for its infamous Hilary Duff scorpion-pants scene, but there's a lot more to War, Inc. -- including its co-writer, producer, and star, John Cusack.
More...
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