Movie Review: War Dogs

Just in time for election season, Hollywood has given American audiences another reason to feel sick about their country with the fact-based crime drama/black comedy War Dogs. War Dogs takes a look at the sky-high profits that can be made when the United States government needs to be armed for a military conflict. The film would've absolutely benefited from going into more specific detail about the arrangements and it's not nearly as scathing of a condemnation of the system as it was clearly intended to be, but the nuggets of information that are present about the workings of the government's defense industry and how lightly people within the industry are punished for committing illegal activity to procure firearms, ammunition, etc. are astonishing and truly appalling.  

Politics aside, War Dogs is a competent film with flashes of greatness that never materializes into something truly special. It's evident that co-writer/director Todd Philips (The Hangover trilogy, Old School) and his writing partners Stephen Chin and Jason Smilovic wanted to this be the arms-industry answer to The Wolf of Wall Street or The Big Short, but it lacks the manic energy, satirical tone and gut-punch impact of those films. It also doesn't help that the plot is bizarrely grounded for the genre. The film hums along at the same semi-slow pace throughout and the tension/stakes never elevate, even when the consequences for the protagonist's illegal activities come into play in the second half of the film. War Dogs was definitely engaging enough to keep me relatively interested throughout the film and the last handful of scenes are absolutely brilliant, but there wasn't enough narrative fireworks or sting in its messages to be a great film overall.

While War Dogs has its faults with writing and pacing, the acting is universally excellent. Jonah Hill continues his dramatic acting hot streak with a phenomenal turn as Efraim Diveroli, the manipulative, morally bankrupt leader of the arms operation, while Miles Teller is appropriately even-keeled as David Packouz, Efraim's unassuming and overly loyal accomplice who reluctantly takes the job to support his newborn daughter and soon gets swept up with the opulence and adrenaline-driven lifestyle of an arms dealer. Hill and Teller are two of the best actors of their generation and War Dogs would've more than likely fallen apart without their efforts. The leads do excellent work, but it's Bradley Cooper's supporting turn as the arms magnet that supplies Diverloli and Packouz with the weapons they need to fill the massive $300 million Pentagon contract they landed to arm militias in Afghanistan that proves to be the film's finest piece of acting. In a mere 15 minutes on screen, Cooper manages to give a commanding and legitimately terrifying performance that injects War Dogs the type of imposing, sinister presence that it desperately needed more of. Not since John Goodman in 2014's The Gambler have I seen an actor run away with a movie in such a short period of time.

War Dogs is a well-acted and pretty entertaining film, it's just a bit disappointing that it never fully embraces the insanity and potential dark comedy gold that could've been harvested out of its premise. In the right hands, this could've been a classic piece of scathing satire instead of merely a respectable crime drama that's bound to get lost in the shuffle of similar films before too long. Phillips and co. put forth an admirable effort with War Dogs, it just never quits add up to the timely, intelligent and pointed film they wanted it to be.

3.5/5 Stars