Film Review: "War Dogs" (2016).

"Hustling their way to the American Dream" in War Dogs. This biographical dark comedy-crime film directed by Todd Phillips, written by Phillips, Jason Smilovic and Stephen Chin, and based on Guy Lawson's Rolling Stone article and book Arms and the Dudes. Based on true events, two friends in their early 20s living in Miami Beach during the Iraq War exploit a little-known government initiative that allows small businesses to bid on U.S. Military contracts. Starting small, they begin raking in big money and are living the high life. But the pair gets in over their heads when they land a 300 million dollar deal to arm the Afghan Military - a deal that puts them in business with some very shady people, not the least of which turns out to be the U.S. Government.

The film follows two arms dealers, Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, who receive a U.S. Army contract to supply ammunitions for the Afghan National Army worth approximately $300 million. The film is heavily fictionalized and dramatized, an exaggerated account of the two young men who physically faced perilous situations abroad. Though Packouz and Diveroli dealt in danger, they mostly did it behind a computer screen. Many of the incidents in the film on Chin's experiences in Iraq. Initially, Jesse Eisenberg and Shia LaBeouf were set to star in the film; however, Jonah Hill and Miles Teller were eventually cast. The real David Packouz met with Teller, where as the real Diveroli declined to meet with Hill. Hill said "I'm used to it. If a person is aggressively against me playing them, it's probably a good sign." By early March 2015, Ana de Armas, Bradley Cooper, Kevin Pollak, Patrick St. Esprit, and Shaun Toub. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and took place in Miami, Florida; Los Angeles, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Atlanta, Georgia; Casablanca, Morocco; and Bucharest, Romania.

The film stars Hill, Teller, de Armas, Cooper, Pollak, St. Esprit, and Toub. Teller is not entirely convincing playing the straight man and a little of Hill's antics goes a long way. Teller usually has a knack for picking decent movies. But this was not one of them. Hill keeps the laughs coming in the hilarious, banter-filled first half, but as the film descends into explosions, car-chases and awkwardly inserted moments of poignancy, it loses its wit and pacing in favor of predictable stunts. It's a tough double act, but both Teller and Hill pull it off with just enough confidence and some laughs here and there.

Shamelessly derivative and only sporadically funny, War Dogs doesn't live up to the possibilities suggested by its talented director and marvelously mismatched stars. The movie probably contains enough laughs to satisfy the weekend audience. Where it falls short is in the characters and relationships. The film is funny enough, but it should have been funnier. There are very few laugh-out-loud lines, but the situations prompt more curiosity about what will happen and/or how they'll get out of it than actual amusement.

Simon says War Dogs receives:

Also, see my review for The Hangover Part III.