Lord of War (2005)

Unlike most Hollywood movies being made today, Lord of War actually has something to say – and even though it goes about saying it clumsily and you may find the film’s ultimate moral lesson suspect – Lord of War packs quite a punch.

Review by : James O'Ehley

Cool cat ... Nicolas Cage in Lord of War

Lord of War will at the very least give you and your cinema-going companions something to discuss afterwards.

An angry condemnation of the international arms trade, the movie’s biggest problem though is Nicolas Cage. Cage gives his usual energetic performance, but the actor wants to be liked by audiences, and his Russian gunrunner character is too much of a charmer and a “oh shucks” nice guy to be believable as the cold and amoral person he is supposed to be. Ultimately, Lord of War goes the same way as many modern gangster and crime movies, making an illegal activity (in this case illegal arms trading) look like an exciting and glamorous career choice. There are the limousines, the beautiful women, the excitement of outwitting blundering policemen, and so forth. One just shudders to think how this will play with certain audiences . . .

Sure, along the way Lord of War tries to show the deadly effects of Yuri’s merchandise: women and children being mercilessly slaughtered by marauding gunmen, children amputees in war zones, poverty and devastation – but judging from the inappropriate laughter of the audience I saw it with, audiences can’t help but root for Yuri.

The film’s salient moral – that the five nations belonging to the UN’s “security” council (America prime amongst them) are the world’s largest arms exporters and therefore it is hypocritical to just condemn “illegal” gunrunners such as the fictional Yuri Orlov – seems in itself hypocritical when you think about it.

Lord of War also never seems to settle on a consistent tone, veering between moments of Black comedy and unsubtle Oliver Stone-like sermonising and the pacing is uneven too. Just what exactly were they trying to accomplish with the “wife doesn’t know what he’s doing for a living” subplot for instance?

However, despite its many flaws, Lord of War remains worth seeing for the many issues it raises. It is also a virtuoso piece of film-making with some well-made and stunning sequences such as the opening credit titles which show the life cycle of an AK47 bullet as it is produced in a Soviet factory before it is shipped off to some Third World hellhole where it finally blows away some unsuspecting bystander’s brains – all told from the perspective of the bullet itself!

Accusations that the film is racist are unfounded by the way: if you’re going to tell a story about gunrunning in African war zones then the picture isn’t going to be pretty . . . because it isn’t.

See Lord of War if you want to talk about more than how “nice” the special effects were afterwards.

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