Andrew Niccol (“Gattaca,” “The Truman Show”) began shopping his “Lord of War” project around Hollywood a week prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. So just how does a New Zealand-born filmmaker come by $50 million to make a movie that rebukes the United States government for being the world’s foremost supplier of weaponry at a time when jingoism ruled the day in this country? Well, he turned to France, of course! Producer Philippe Rousselet secured the dough, an iconoclastic cast led by Nic Cage signed on, and a feature that Michael Moore will surely enjoy was born. I mention Moore not only because his name has the same sort of polarizing effect this movie is likely to have on audiences, but also because the subject matter in “Lord of War” seems better-suited for a documentary than a feature film.
Cage is undoubtedly the right choice to play Yuri Orlov, who emigrated from the Ukraine to Brighton Beach as a boy, and grew up determined to buy his way out. After witnessing a shoot-out between Russian mobsters in a Little Odessa restaurant, Yuri realizes his destiny lies in fulfilling a “basic human need” — that being to kill one another. So he makes a connection down at the local synagogue, sells a few handguns, and before long he supplants Ian Holm’s Simeon Weisz as the king of international arms dealers. Yuri’s only allegiance is to the almighty dollar and he steadfastly avoids weighing the moral implications of his profession. The closest thing he’s got to a conscience is his impressionable younger brother, Vitaly, rendered with aplomb by the versatile Jared Leto. Cage plays his part with a preternatural detachment while still imbuing Yuri with an odd likability. He peddles mass destruction, sure, but he still comes across as the kind of guy you’d like to be around. By-the-book Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke) certainly is intent on getting close to Yuri, though his attempts to bust him are repeatedly thwarted. Bridget Moynahan is relegated to window-dressing as Yuri’s trophy wife. (Rated R for strong violence, drug use, language and sexuality. Running time: 122 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 16, 2005. Read the original PDF.