Lord of War (Movie Review)

Movie Review
Lord of War
2005
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke
Directed by: Andrew Niccol

I don’t exactly think the world was asking for a film where Nicolas Cage is explaining how governments and mercenaries are using the black market gun-trade for their own gains but Andrew Niccol spent over two hours given us such a film. Lord of War isn’t a bad film but it does get bogged down by feeling preachy and superficial. There are points in the film where you’re unsure where it’s headed; not due to some technique used to build suspense but because the film itself lacks direction.

Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) and his brother Vitaly (Jared Leto) grow up in New York City to Ukranian immigrants. Looking to make something of themselves, they get into the gunrunning trade to make a lot of quick money. Yuri takes to the job more than Vitaly, who lets the money and power get to his head and falls into some pretty bad vices. Yuri though takes a real shine to the business and quickly becomes one of the top gunrunners in the world. He has the entire profession down to a science as he’s got governments in his back pockets and the police perplexed. However, things aren’t perfect for Yuri either. His trophy wife Ava Fontaine (Bridget Moynahan) is slowly coming to the conclusion that her husband isn’t as upstanding a citizen as he claims to be. In addition, determined Interpol cop Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke) will settle at nothing to make sure Yuri finds himself behind bars.

Although the intention is to make Yuri Orlov a borderline unlikeable character and while Nicolas Cage does a decent job in the role, the character itself is not able to hold the movie. The writer (Niccol also wrote the film) didn’t do a good enough job making the audience feel emotionally upset, saddened, or sympathetic with Orlov’s actions. He’s not despicable enough to be hated and he’s not enough of a loveable loser for the audience to be rooting for him. It’s like as if the character has been left in a creative limbo.

Actually, the Niccol sort of mucked up the development of all the characters. Ava Fontaine is a horribly scripted character from start to finish. Vitaly Orlov seems like they couldn’t decide what type of scum he should be in the movie. The only character that seems to have some sort of balance was Jack Valentine. Then again, nothing is ever perfect; it’s not like you can get everything wrong.

Despite the horrible character development, it’s hard to figure out where the movie wanted to go. Even halfway through the film, it seems unclear where the final destination will be. It can’t decide if it’s about the politics of the gun trade, about Yuri’s life, or about the destruction of the Third World at the hands of the gun lords. At times it feels like it has some sort of direction and then it tries telling all three narratives at once and then abandons one for another and then another. The movie can get as creatively confusing as that last sentence was to read. The movie is flaky like that. At times, it feels like it was done to keep the audience guessing but most of the time it feels like Andrew Niccol couldn’t decide what type of movie he wanted to make.

At least the movie is interesting, even though it is a mess. There is some sort of story buried under the rubble and when it appears, it is engaging. In fact, the whole concept is so fascinating it almost saves the film. It’s creepy just how easy it is for Yuri to get his hands on the weapons and turn them around for quick profit. It’s scary just how he’s able to work his way around the authorities; especially considering the Valentine is hot on his heels for much of the movie. There are plenty aspects of the movie that make for some pretty appealing moments. It’s just not enough to make the film good.

In the end, Andrew Niccol’s Lord of War is a disappointment. Blame it on Niccol if you want to for the horrible script but at least it was ambitious. There might be enough interesting things about the movie that some may be able to ignore the horrible character development and the narrative advancement. However, for the majority, it’s just going to feel like a waste of time.

☆☆