This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Jet Lagged Wet Work
Plot Overview
In the 21st century, America has outsourced its latest mid-east war to the corporation Tamerlane—bastardized spelling of American. It is now time to rebuild (“We've already kicked the shit out of this place. What are we supposed to do? Turn our backs on all the entrepreneurial possibilities?”) One possibility that cannot be allowed, though, is some “son of a bitch trying to build a pipeline through his own sheep f–ing country. We didn't liberate Turaqistan to get hustled by some [expletive deleted] fezhead!” CIA assassin Hauser (John Cusack,) a cold “killing machine,” has been tasked with eliminating one Omar Sherif (Lyubomir Neikov,) CEO of UgiGas, a Ugigastanian conglomerate that's competing for Tamerlane's claim. His cover is to go to the country as a trade show producer for the Brand USA Expo Turaqistan.
As Hauser pilots his jet across the
arctic circle he confides to GuideStar his navigational device
that he's been having more trouble with nightmares. Hmm. We'd
just seen him speak a friendly word to his previous mark (“Guten aben”) in
northern Canada before dispatching him. He sends out his dry
cleaning to Ramstein, Germany and speaks very highly of them. We assume
he'd learned his smattering of German from the late hausfrau of his flashbacks.
Now he's about to meet a reminder of the lady in left wing journalist
Natalie Hegalhuzen (Marisa Tomei,) and a reminder of his long missing
daughter Cara in pop star Yonica Babyyeah (Hilary Duff.) The trade
show is to be capped off with the latter's wedding to Ooq-Mi-Fay
Taqnufmini (Sergej Trifunovic,) scion of a powerful Turaqi
clan. The domestic feelings in the professional hit-man awakened by these
two women will interfere with his ability to complete his mission.
Ideology
“War, Inc.” is a satire set in some dystopian future that looks all too much like where we're heading. As such it is reasonably well represented by, (Prov. 30:11-14) “There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.”
Starting with, “a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother,” the movie delves into children's disobedience in feeding their face. After scavenging a mixed bag of food from some ruins, Miss Hegalhuzen reminisces, “My mom was always trying to get me to eat weird stuff: tempeh and wheatgrass, and all I ever wanted was peanut butter.” She does, however, accede to Hauser's invitation to coffee (“It's a delicacy”) sweetened with pomegranate honey. This selective taste in children is echoed by four street urchins in war-ravaged Fallaf (“a no-go zone”) whose request for candy brings a negative response, and then their retribution (“Next time bring some candy, asshole”)—and the finger. Children in this dystopia are demanding in their eats. Hauser's aide de camp Marsha Dillon (Joan Cusack) announces that, “The Tamerlane corporate gift bag contains an autobiography by ‘Oh, you know who,’ titled, How I Conquered the World and Dealt With Issues With my Father.” Yet she is heard crying out for cake when the wedding guests are leaving and there's none left. This irreverence for parents is contrasted with discipline meted out to Ooq-Mi-Fay by his father Excellency Ooq-Yu-Fay Taqnufmini who spits on his son's hand and forces him to slap himself silly. This kid respects his disciplinarian father. Miss Babyyeah has a particular fondness for pickles and her intended sees to it she's satisfied. Hauser uses a Popeyes chicken order as a secret code to enter the command bunker, and he also attempts to poison Omar's soup, but that's all spy stuff. He's addicted to hot sauce something fierce.
“There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.” The former U.S. Vice President (Dan Aykroyd) in sending kill orders to Hauser, clarifies that, “Tamerlane is cleared of any and all violations of federal, state and international laws by the [bs] Silverman–James Bipartisan Committee.” And he himself has been “Preemptively pardoned by the President.” Right! That is contrasted by a soulful folk arrangement dubbed over some footage of devastation:
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Is your soul all spotless? Is it clean as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Have you laid down your burdens? Have you found peace and rest? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
“There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.” This is a surveillance state. The Viceroy is seen remotely on a screen depicting his avatar(s) and his voice is disguised electronically so we don't even know who he is. But he sees us.
“There is a generation, whose
teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the
poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.” Hauser
comes down to saying, “Whoever momentarily interrupts
the accumulation of our wealth, we pulverize! I'm just not
feeling good about that anymore, sir!” Miss Hegalhuzen
wants to go to Fallaf to investigate use of chemical weapons, but
Hauser points out what difference does it make how they get killed.
Production Values
“” (2008) was directed by Joshua Seftel. The screenplay was written by Mark Leyner, Jeremy Pikser, and John Cusack. It stars John Cusack, Hilary Duff, Marisa Tomei, Joan Cusack, Dan Aykroyd and Ben Kingsley. Duff, who plays a sweet soul transformed into a pop icon, is a riot at times and interesting at others. Kingsley plays a behind the scenes villain who will mess with your head. The main actors were accomplished in their own right and deliver the goods here.
MPAA rated it R for violence, language and brief sexual material. The film is heavy on satire and busy on war images. For me it improved with multiple viewings giving me a chance to sort out some of its subtleties. For all that, it's still not deep but is consistently satiric all the way through.
There is a brief shot out of the blue preceding scene 1 proper of an airplane trailing a signature tag, flying with clear skies behind it. There is no context for this shot until the end of the movie, but it's not a mistake.
Review Conclusion w/ Christian Recommendation
I rather liked this movie, especially after about the third viewing. It's both funny and a sad commentary on our times. The characters in it were just that: characters, which is not a bad thing in a movie. It borrowed heavily from other franchises and genres, which again is not a bad thing in a satire. See it if that's your bag.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Edge of your seat action-packed. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Amazing special effects. Video Occasion: When you've got time for repeat viewings. Suspense: A number of suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quoted from the Authorized King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
“Blood of the Lamb.” Written by Jay Bennell, Woody Guthrie, and Jeff Tweedle. Subtitles.
bibles.n7nz.org