Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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26 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comedy from today's headlines, June 20, 2008
I almost skipped this one as a political annoyance until I saw the star power supporting it: Ben Kingsley, Marisa Tomei (a personal favorite), John Cusack, Joan Cusack, and more. That cast simply won't let a movie be bad. They couldn't if they tried.
Despite an apparent attempt to be ordinary entertainment, this one rises above all the usual categories. Do you want a cynical mockumentary of Haliburton-style war profiteering? Got it. Do you want pointed jabs at operations funded by Congress's "black budget?" Check. Do you want satirical assaults on simplistic sloganeering from every possible direction? It's there. Add in a babe like a pre-meltdown Britney but with hotter hotpants and a bucket of slapstick, and you're headed in the right direction. For example, a major character's name is "Uckmee Fay." Speakers of pig-Latin, please take note.
They set the tone from the very first scene. Chevy Chase delivers a "Mission Impossible" style of assignment to a high-class assassin, via video, while seated on American Standard's finest. Later, Joan Cusack shows up in the role that she has perfected - the prim, cheery, and murderous psychopath. There's a lot more, too. I laughed all through, even (maybe especially) when I knew that outrage would have been the "appropriate" response.
This one really grows on me the more I think about it. It doesn't whap you upside the head with humor, politics, or even its sappy moments. Instead, it tickles you with not-quite-too-much of social commentary, current events, goofy jokes, visual gags, and enough more to hold it all together. I liked it more a few hours later than when I walked out the door, and lots of movies have the opposite effect on me.
-- wiredweird, reviewing the theatrical release
PS: See it some time soon. The topical humor in this one might age badly unless the The Powers That Be keep providing background to preserve its freshness.
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15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
War Inc is a must see..., August 15, 2008
War Inc has an all star cast that includes John Cusack as Hauser a troubled assassin who has accepted a job of bumping off the figure head of a rival nation. To do this he must pose as a trade show coordinator hosting a Tamerlane Brand USA Expo in recently "liberated" country Turaqistan. On top of all this and with the help of his assistant (Joan Cusack) he has to juggle a headstrong reporter (Marisa Tomei) and the impending wedding of pop superstar Yonika BabyYea (Hilary Duff). War Inc is a film that will entertain a number of different audiences. On the surface the film plays much like a guy with girl troubles film but its the underlying theme that really makes it shine. Writers Mark Leyner, Jeremy Pikser and John Cusack weave a story that draws many parallels between what is happening on screen and in America today. One could easily view these larger than life characters as allegorical representations of the American Public, Capitalism, Big Business, Government, The Media...and so on. There is of course a good bit of the absurd, including but not limited to: fighting, licking and hotsauce drinking. Overall this film is ahead of its time for its candid statements about the geo political climate and its fun enough that you can still eat popcorn too. I hope you enjoy!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
...wow ... !, July 12, 2008
... OK, we finally get to hear Hilary Duff talk trashy ... and she does it really well ...
What is a bit awkward is a jarring contrast between the seriously dangerous character played mostly straight by John Cusack (way darker than Grosse Pointe Blank) and the utterly outrageous satire in everything else. It's interesting that his character comes across straight even when the conversation is satire ... i.e., with Dan Aykroy ... OK ... the VP ...
Also striking is, that except for a gag on the character's last name at the beginning and the "strike a pose" at the end of the film, Marisa Tomei's character is also played mostly straight.
It's very difficult to put a finger on analogies with this film. The first thing that came to mind was the film version of MASH. Then the tongue in cheek, gags, and word plays sweep it into its own category.
Almost none of this is given away in the Trailers.
This is a jaw dropping experience.
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