War Inc. [DVD]

After the enjoyable experience that was the last Cusack / Ackroyd film, 'Grosse Pointe Blank', I was really looking forward to 'War Inc'. Touted as the spiritual successor to that under-rated classic, 'War Inc' had all the wonderful ingredients - a brooding John Cusack, a strangely arousing psychotic Joan Cusack, an off-kilter Dan Ackroyd and, in place of Minnie Driver, two wonderfully hot leads in Hilary Duff and Marisa Tomei; as well as a similar plot-line (brooding hitman takes on one last job, and finds love and a reason to change his life). So, what went wrong?

Well, partly it's my fault. 'Grosse Pointe Blank' was something so wonderfully special, something that managed to pull off the double-whammey of being instantly entertaining and slyly satirical in the same breath, with performances that (Minnie Driver's slightly dodgy American accent aside) really brought the characters, even the minor ones, to life - in essence, you cared that Martin Blank changed his life and got the girl in the same way that you really wanted the smug Federal Agents to get their comeuppence. Therefore, whilst I had been hopeful that the Cusack / Cusack / Ackroyd trinity could weave their magic again, it was always doubtful that they could manage it quite as succesfully. Yet I didn't think that things would work out this badly.

For a start, 'War Inc' doesn't really work as a satire, since the satire is so thinly veiled. We know that 'Turaqistan' is meant to be Iraq, that 'Tamarline' is Haliburton, and that Ackroyd's character is based on Dick Cheney - therefore there's no fun to be had from making the connections; whilst the (not unreasonable) point that much American conflict also involves profiteering is constantly rammed down the viewer's throat every 10 seconds as a tank rumbles past with a McDonalds or Financial Times banner pinned to it. Then there's the slapstick, for example the introduction Hauser has to the Viceroy, or the scene where the American soldier delivers dry cleaning. Martin Blank didn't have to resort to it in 'Grosse Pointe Blank', and it's just irriating here. But not quite as irritating as the lampooning of Middle Easterners; in many ways, it's the same as Borat's lampooning of Kazakhstanis, only that whilst half the fun of Borat was in the ways both nations were portrayed as stupid, here it's only the natives that are portrayed as stupid when compared to Westerners.

However, and it's a big(ish) 'however', the film does have some strong points - it's just that, strangely for a comedy, these are the bits that aren't meant to be funny: the American assault on a village that Hauser is attempting to rescue Natalie from is particularly poignant, whilst Cusack's strongest performance comes when talking about his family. If it wasn't for these moments, the film would be a total loss; but even then, unfortunately, these moments are few and far between.

Overall, it's easy to see why this film barely recouped a portion of its budget, and it's a shame, given the usual quality of its cast: particularly Hilary Duff, who banishes Lizzie Maguire forever with her foul-mouthed sexpot character. 'War Inc' is by no means an unwatchable film, it's just that it's no 'Grosse Pointe Blank'. And that may be the most disappointing thing of all.

Oh dear.

I'm a huge fan of John Cusack, I'm not sure why but I like his films. They tend to be funny and a little bit off beat. I loved Grosse Pointe Blank, High Fidelity, Pushing Tin and Identity. I even liked The Contract and Martian Child. He manages to get fantastic actors to appear in his films while at the same time finding parts for his family, particularly his sister Joan Cusack who is a fine actress.

So when I came across this film I was a bit surprised I had never heard of it. Billed as a political satire of corporate greed and the US military industrial complex, I thought this would be right up my street.

Set at some time in the near future it starts off promisingly with Cusack partially reprising his characters role from Grosse Pointe Blank along with Dan Aykroyd. We are told that major private corporations are now more powerful than governments and that one has now invaded and conquered the fictional country of Turaqistan. Now they are poised to make a fortune by rebuilding the country but the Turaqistan President is causing problems and needs to be assassinated. Cusack will perform the deed under the cover of running a US Trade Fair in the country.

Unfortunately it all just falls apart into a terrible mess. It can't make up its mind if it is a comedy or trying to be something else. The story is confused with pointless flashbacks about Cusack's family history, it chucks in stuff about a Middle Eastern female pop star that is marrying a local militia leader, a female investigative journalist, a missing child and is full of shouting soldiers, gunfire and explosions. It even has Ben Kingsley in it.

There are a few laugh out loud moments and Joan Cusack is at her scenery chewing best for a little bit of the movie. Despite this it is still a dogs dinner of a film and just doesn't work.

It is very disappointing and one only for those who have to see all John Cusack's films.

This film is taking a real slating on other reviews and I can see why. Alot of people expected it to be Grosse Point Blank 2 and to some extent it is but it has a much more relevant message than that film ever had, namely about the free market exploitation of war and disaster. I got it thinking that it was GPB 2 and coincidentally I'm reading Naomi Kleins Shock Doctrine and a few minutes into the film the similarities struck me. Sure enough some of her reporting from 'dad forms the basis of the film, and the Marisa Tomei character I think, is meant to be Klein. The film is a bit crazy to reflect the madness in Iraq but its a very creditable take on that issue.