War, Inc. (2008)

Director:

Joshua Seftel

Writers (WGA):

Mark Leyner (written by) &
Jeremy Pikser (written by) ...

Release Date:

28 August 2008 (Russia)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

When it comes to war...America means business

Plot:

A political satire set in Turaqistan, a country occupied by an American private corporation run by a former US Vice-President (Aykroyd)...

Cast

John Cusack	...	Brand Hauser
Joan Cusack	...	Marsha Dillon
Marisa Tomei	...	Natalie Hegalhuzen
Hilary Duff	...	Yonica Babyyeah
Ben Kingsley	...	Walken
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dan Aykroyd	...	The Vice President
Ned Bellamy	...	Zubleh / Ooq-Yu-Fay Taqnufmini
Velizar Binev	...	German Businessman
Shirly Brener	...	Hauser's Wife
Marc Casabani	...	Various (voice)
Ben Cross	...	Medusa Hair
Doug Dearth	...	Geoff
Itai Diakov	...	Boy
Georgi Gatzov	...	Soundman
Nick Harvey	...	Preacher
Lyubomir Neikov	...	Omar
Rachel O'Meara	...	Implanted Reporter
Velislav Pavlov	...	Video guy #2
Bashar Rahal	...	Video Guy #1
Joost Scholte	...	Cashier
Stanimir Stamatov	...	Posse guy
Sergej Trifunovic	...	Ooq-Mi-Fay Taqnufmini
Montel Williams	...	GuideStar
George Zlatarev	...	Director

Also Known As:

Brand Hauser: Stuff Happens (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and brief sexual material.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Boyana Film, Sofia, Bulgaria

Company:

New Crime Productions

Trivia:

John Cusack first became interested in making the film when he read Naomi Klein's 2004 article "Baghdad Year Zero".

Quotes:

Natalie Hegalhuzen: You know that all my writings have called this occupation a violation of international law and its practitioners are criminals?
Brand Hauser: Do you really believe all this stuff you write?
Natalie Hegalhuzen: Anyone who can causes this much mayhem when they didn't have to? The amount of suffering that I've seen?
Brand Hauser: I know.
[helicoper flies overhead]
Brand Hauser: [speaking on the phone] Ok. Hold on a sec.
[speaking to Natalie again]
Brand Hauser: But the way I look at it is this: the day we can actually feel and hear all the suffering of mankind, that's the day when "The Christ" will come back! So we got that going for us.
[speaking on the phone again]
Brand Hauser: I'll be out in a minute.
[...]

A thoroughly entertaining film.

Let me start by saying that "War, Inc" is not everyone's cup of tea. It is, however, very enjoyable (and gets you thinking - "Oh, crap"). The comedy involved the film isn't obvious at all - it's quite subtle (Tamerlane tanks, dry-cleaning service etc), and it changes with the twists & turns in the plot.

I may be the only one, but I won't compare this with "Grosse Point Blank", because, it's different. John Cusack - I wouldn't say he was "amazing" or "brilliant" - but he was good. On the other hand, his sister (Joan Cusack) was incredible in her delivery of lines & comedic timing - even though she was hardly in the film (I'd say the same about Ben Kingsley).

Marisa Tomei plays a convincing reporter, and manages to pull it off. Hilary Duff is very commendable for her role as central Asian pop star Yonica Babyyeah. Duff's development as an actress is very noticeable in the film, and she does a very good job (even though her accent is a tad unreal).

Overall, the film is what I would call "entertaining". It doesn't have a particular storyline, and it's quite silly at times, but it does have a subtle message. I'd say it's worth a watch.