Film Reviews

Lord of War

• Rating:
• Director: Andrew Niccol
• Starring: Jered Leto
• Details: US, 122 mins, (16)

Not happy with the poor hand he has been dealt with in life, Ukrainian immigrant Yuri (Cage) turns to the highly lucrative business of gun running as a means to get out. With his brother Vitaly (Leto) in tow, the two soon have every despot and warlord on their books and make a quiet profitable living while Yuri manages to snare the woman of his dreams in the process (Bridget Moynahan). However, when his relationship with the Liberian leader turns sour, Vitaly's drug dependency increases and with Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Hawke) close on his tail, Yuri is forced to confront his morally ambiguous way of life. It may have been a tough character to sell to an audience - a totally unsympathetic man who sells death for a living - but Niccol's attempts to humanise Yuri come up very short. Cage claims that if it wasn't him it would be someone else, and his hopes that every bullet misses its target as long as it is his guns that are firing don't really convince. Lacking heart, soul and emotion, Niccol needed to take this movie off safety and put a bullet in the chamber.

Review by Gavin Burke