FilmSnobReviews

Title: War Dogs
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Todd Phillips
Starring: Miles Teller, Jonah Hill, Ana de Armas
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

What It Is: When down on his luck massage therapist David (Teller) is confronted by his junior high best friend Efraim (Hill) offers him a job selling arms to the United States government this is an offer he cannot refuse. As the duo begin to really make money they also start to make waves. This gains them the attention of arms supplier extraordinaire Henry Girard (Bradley Cooper) as well as the FBI. All roads seem to be converging into one path and it is a mighty destructive one.

What We Think: This film has a sense of fun about it interestingly enough. When you watch this film it doesn’t seem like that’d be its sensibility. Jonah Hill and Miles Teller were very good here and from a performances perspective. Ana de Armas, however, I found to be in a completely different movie. Maybe she was still lost in Knock Knock? I say that because just like that film she seems to be reading off of a teleprompter of sorts. Perhaps, though, it is her Cuban accent that gets in the way.

Our Grade: C+, The problems with this movie stems from both the ending and the structure. The end is very abrupt feeling like it has some story left to tell and instead suddenly ending. Director Todd Phillips is known for his comedies they are however very hit or miss. Here I’d say he at least gets on base. I’d recommend this slightly but go in understanding what you’re getting into. It is a movie that is based on real-life these things really happened and there’s obviously some liberties taken here. Nonetheless, see the film it is good enough for sure.