Lock and load.
We get it – it’s the middle of the week and you’re sitting on the couch wondering what to stream in order to let your brain relax before it gets pummelled into a mush by the next couple of days of work. You’re so tired that you can barely be bothered to lift the remote, let alone decide on what to watch. Don’t sweat it, we’ve got just the thing. Tonight you’re going to be watching Todd Phillips’ 2016 film War Dogs.
The Movie follows David Packouz (Miles Teller), a down-on-his-luck massage therapist who is lured into the world of arms dealing by his shady childhood friend Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill). The bros (they are definitetely bros) and their company AEY rake in cash selling arms to the US Government, who are at the time in the middle of the war in Afghanistan. Then they land a huge deal to stock the Afghan army with arms, for a quarter of a billion dollars, and then, trouble ensues…
It’s a crazy story – two twenty-somethings being so pivotal in military history – but it’s (mostly) true, and is based on Diveroli’s book Once a Gun Runner and a 2011 article in Rolling Stone by Guy Lawson. It’s also ridiculous, funny and tense, with Bradley Cooper kinda in the film as well, but not really doing much… you’ll see. Check out five reasons why you should (re)watch it below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwh9c_E3dJk
The laugh.
Jonah Hill said that the laugh, which is one of the funniest things in the movie, was based on the real Efraim Diveroli’s high-pitched, drawling, titter. Apparently, the laugh was a last-minute addition to the movie, with Hill only revealing it to Phillips a few days before shooting commenced.
The needle drops.
There are some powerful tunes in the soundtrack that sync nicely to the dream-come-true party energy of the film including Pit Bull, 50 Cent, and Justice. Plus they sneak in a bit of Creedence Clearwater Revival, which every movie that is about war must do, during their trip to the middle east.
Bradley Cooper is weird, but still…
Bradley Cooper plays Henry Girard, a blacklisted arms dealer who hooks Packouz and Diveroli up with some dodgy weaponry. He’s supposed to be some sort of scary gun guy, but ultimately looks a little like Hangover Cooper on a bad day, especially in the Vegas scenes… Still, any film with B Coops is a plus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THc03kw_QXg
The Scarface of it all.
There are Scarface posters on the walls and references to the film all throughout, with Phillips clearly highlighting how deluded and childish Diveroli and Packouz are. Like Brian De Palma’s 1983 film, the only place you can go when you’re on the top is down, down, down…
Fuck war.
The sheer fact that this film is based on real events just makes you appreciate how stupid war is, and how the real winners are the worst people: the scumbags who profit off it. Let’s face it, nearly everyone in this film is a douche, except for Packouz’s girlfriend. That said, it’s still a fun ride.
