pitch perfect.Loved Miles Teller and Jonah Hill. Teller is the best actor of his generation. Though this is probably not going to be his best performance this year. I have a feeling his performance in that Boxing film is Oscar bait. Jonah Hill plays the sort of character that he is best known for, but who cares he does it so well. I was not familiar with the female lead Ana De Armas, but she is mesmerizing.Bradley Cooper was terrific in a relatively small role as well.I can see hundreds of twenty somethings wanting to become War Dogs after seeing this film, but I a pretty certain that window of opportunity is closed. This has been a pretty disappointing year so far in film. My guilty pleasure was Tarzan, and I really liked Sing Street and 10 Cloverfield Lane but this is my first ten of the year. Maybe I should only have given it a 9, but I it certainly is the best film released in the last eight months, and you gotta give a 10 once in awhile.

probably appeal to teenagers and maybe guys in their early 20's, but after that the appeal would greatly diminish within older and more mature viewers. I admit and I have my reviews on this site to prove that I have liked past works by both these directors, but again they were just amusing comedies that I would see once and then probably not bother with again and while humorous and entertaining at the time, they would have no lasting impact, or affect on me other than having a few chuckles amongst the other filmgoers at the theatre. McKay broke through this barrier last year with The Big Short, and now he has plans to do other more serious and yet entertaining films like one he has lined up with Jennifer Lawrence, and while I am sure he will still do his immature comedies, he has proved that he can and has the ability to do more serious and ultimately much better work. Having now seen War Dogs, I can safely say that not only has Phillips shown his truest talent as a writer, director and ultimately as a filmmaker, but I also think like McKay he has made the best film of his career. War Dogs much like The Big Short, focuses on real people and events that unfold before our eyes and the film is very satirical at times and also gives a good commentary on things such as how these two young men could have conned the American government the way they did and basically how easy it was for them to get filthy rich and do so under everyone's noses, or without them being aware. The film looks at war and weapons and how the American government goes about it's daily business with these types of foreign affairs and activities and the filmmakers here give a very critical and sometimes scathing look at such things showing that as voters, citizens and everyday people, we really sometimes have no clue as to what our government officials are up to, or what goes on behind the scenes and it also leaves one thinking that these people must not always be completely competent, or on top of things the way they should have been because otherwise we wouldn't have a film like War Dogs, or a true story and events such as this film depicts because anyone who knew what was going on would have put an end to it a long time ago, or so I hope. The film is just as good as any political spoof, or skewering by offering up many things for us as viewers to both be amazed and horrified at in equal measures. All the while though, Phillips proves he can tell a good story and both make an impact with it and completely engulf us into the world of arms dealings and the seedy goings on that these characters were involved in. The film can be quite humorous at times both in crude ways which Phillips still knows how to do, but yet he improves upon here and yet the film is so riveting that while not a thriller we are still so fascinated by what is going on in front of us that it would be a major mistake to leave the theatre even for a couple minutes and dare miss a second of this riveting story unfolding before us. The film's script is sharp with both it's quite perceptive and sometimes painfully accurate criticisms of what these two men did as well as the failure at the time of the American government, but it also raises good questions about what anyone would resort to and what depths, or lows we might go to in order to make a name for ourselves and be filthy rich even if it means facing major consequences. The acting here from the whole cast is also excellent and some of the finest work of both Jonah Hill and Miles Teller. Phillips has proved he can make one great film and I hope like McKay they continue to make serious and thought provoking films of a higher quality like this and not just go for the easy, or stupid laughs like in the past because in both cases that would be more or less selling themselves out and isn't that basically what they were both against with these two movies? I hope they will continue to work seriously, but as it stands, War Dogs is one of this year's finest achievements and overall best films.

Efraim's dangerous world. Easily Todd Phillip's best film since The Hangover. Hill brings out the charisma of someone who does not care who he steps on to get rich. Teller as David sees opportunity until trust is broken and a trip to dangerous territory has him on his knees with a gun to his head. Ana de Armas plays David's frustrated wife who fears for their life and the safety of their child. She calls out David on his ongoing lies and his questionable loyalty to Efraim. Bradley Cooper plays a shady character named Henry Girard whom they deal with until merchandise turns up to be wrong and problematic. This is at times funny but often tension makes way for suspense as trouble closes in. Action scenes are fast paced with narrow escapes. Theme regards trust and those whom manipulate our lives into disaster. It also reveals the reality of cutting corners to prevail thus leading to severe consequences. The dogs bite savage in this chaotic and numbing action farce. Score: 10 / 10

needs to be. Miles Teller plays his character sympathetically and I liked him here. Quite different from the rather annoying characters he usually plays. Bradley Cooper who produced the movie and has a small but pivotal role and he is effective as an arms dealer.Quite a transporting experience as the action takes you from Miami to Jordan and Iraq with some funny situations there and Albania.Watch this movie. It deserves to do better than it has so far.

Dogs isn't strictly a comedy. There are wide doses of humor, but beneath the laughs, there is a serious anti-war manifest which doesn't only aim at denouncing war in itself, but also the huge political and economic apparatus feeding from the conflict... ie, the death and suffering of uncountable innocents. That isn't a message traditionally expressed with lightness, but co-screenwriters Phillips, Stephen Chin and Jason Smilovic make it work in both the didactic and recreational levels. War Dogs undoubtedly belongs to Teller and Hill, but the supporting cast also makes a perfect work in their roles, highlighting Ana de Armas and the great Kevin Pollak. Some people are comparing War Dogs to The Wolf of Wall Street, but I found it more similar to The Big Short, which examined the economic collapse of Wall Street. Both were made by directors specialized in comedies, and despite dealing with serious themes, their executions employed humor in order to make the hard truths they revealed more accessible. I would consider War Dogs a bit inferior to The Big Short, but it still deserves an enthusiastic recommendation as a fascinating film which leaves us thinking for a long while after we leave the cinema. Each person will know if they stay thinking "How is it possible for things like that to happen?" or "How can I get into that business?".

times. But while verbose when explaining things, it covers a lot of ground answering most of our questions in a Big Short type of way. Thus, a potentially byzantine premise never becomes convoluted.Teller plays David Packouz, the antiwar protagonist who is contributing to the war effort out of financial necessity. He's good, but Hill arguably carries the film, playing the real-life Efraim Diveroli. He's basically a selfish scumbag who could double as a mob boss at any given moment. Hill broadens his range as an actor with this role, proving he can play sinister along with his goofy trademark. He's so deceptively creepy that we become literally afraid of him.Genre-wise, it might seem to be stuck in limbo, but it's not. The comedy is evenly written and is balanced consistently into the drama. The exposition is fast-paced and doesn't require us to look back scratching our heads.War Dogs doesn't necessarily explore any new territory as far as the life of a criminal goes, but it's educational and entertaining every step of the way.Twizard Rating: 89

certainly not filled with hilarious quips the bulk of which are in the trailer . This is not to say that the movie was bad or not at all funny, it just wasn't what I expected and I am sure I'm not alone .My final critique will go unnoticed for the majority of viewers but I found it personally offensive so I have to report it: some of the movie takes place in Albania, only the set for Albania is actually Romania. Which is fine, I understand that they probably did this for practical reasons and as a Romanian movie goer I just have to accept it we all recognized it immediately though . However, at some point in the movie an "Albanian" woman says something, only she says it in Romanian. This may not seem like much but it totally took me out of the movie and ruined the experience for me. I find it completely unacceptable that they could not hire an Albanian to say those few lines. The two languages might seem interchangeable to the rest of the world, I am sure, but that was very much NOT the case for me and everyone else in the theater.I am a paying movie goer as well and I expect to be just as entertained as everyone else. This is, of course, not the first time that I've seen this in a film. But when a producer does something like this it shows me that they don't respect their movie, so they can't expect me to.My rating, however, is not based on this final bit of criticism. I gave it a 7/10 for slow pacing and lack of humor, which is the opposite of what I expected.I'd still recommend it, just don't expect to be blown away.After watching it for a second time I decided to change my original rating from 7/10 to 8/10, mainly because the acting is just great and I respect the fact that the movie made me think about it and made me want to see it again.

personal standards of what can be made fun of, and what subjects are too controversial in this case, war, guns and arms dealers to have a good time with.

common way. This film does it well, and beats 'The Big Short' as it was definitely the easier film to follow. However, it does use a lot of comedy aspects from 'Wold of Wall Street'. You compare Jonah Hill's character Efraim to Donnie his character from TWOWS, they are exactly the same for the first half of this movie. Also, this movie makes light of a very serious real life scenario, and felt to safe considering the context. It's to light hearted and the only real drama or tension comes from the two friends. On it's own this film is highly re-watchable, and that's down to the lightheartedness, but take a second to stop and think about the real life story, it feels to lighthearted. With Wall Street it worked because all the characters were terrible people, so it was funny to see them mess up. Here, Myles Teller plays a very likable character, and with some of the sinister characters, this film needed to feel more threatening. However, credit is where credits due, the film did a great job of breaking down how arms dealing works, the same way TWOWS did for stock brokering. and the tone just felt fun, and made it easy to watch. To use wrestling terms, the heel turn seemed a little off, and needed more build, and also just the amount of similarities to TWOWS, from the way they close it out, to Jonah Hill's performance, just the narration by Teller, these films are almost parallel, so that holds this film back from being truly great. But, the funny thing is, this film works. Hill's performance as both a comedic and dramatic actor is fantastic, he balances the two so well. If you haven't seen TWOWS, your going to love this move a hell of a lot, while the film lacks the risks to make it an instant classic, and is to lighthearted on the seriousness of this real life industry, its still fun and re-watchable, and the script and how this film flows just makes it enjoyable viewing. I know I have talked long about the lack of originality, but honestly besides that and the lack of tone, or pushing the boundaries, the film does its job well. Hill and Teller have great chemistry, and I could go back and watch this over and over again. The effort to make people aware of this event can not be faulted, and they made arms dealing and the art of war a lot easier to understand that Big Short did for the financial crisis in 08. The sinister tone to end it, was definitely a tonal shift, but I won't spoil it for you here. I'm just going to say, you will have fun, if you're a fan of TWOWS or similar films, or you really enjoy Jonah Hill or Myles Teller, they deliver. I'm giving it a 4/5 stars. If it pushed the boundaries more, and had more originality I would have given it a 4.5 which I only reserve for great movies. As it is though, it's a re-watchable, fun, well acted, educational film. And you won't even know you're being educated.