Director Todd Phillips
Genre Comedy | Drama
Cast Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Ana de Armas, Jeff Pierre
Rating R
Release Date August 19th, 2016
“Based on the true story of two young men, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America’s allies in Afghanistan.”
Originally titled Arms and the Dudes, War Dogs is a comedy/drama based on real-life events. The film is directed by The Hangover director Todd Phillips, and serves as his first non-Hangover film since 2010’s Due Date. This is also his first drama. War Dogs stars Miles Teller, Jonah Hill, Ana De Armas, and Bradley Cooper. The film’s release has been met with a bit of controversy as the real life Efraim Diveroli (played by Jonah Hill) is suing pretty much everyone attached to the film for what he considers unauthorized use of his story. Sure buddy, good luck with that.
War Dogs is a uniquely inspired comedy drama that feels like a mix between Lord of War, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The Big Short. I really enjoyed the overall experience and felt that the film met my high expectations, which was no easy task. War Dogs is very much a comedy and the laughs come early and often, with both leads pulling their weight. I found myself laughing at scenes with little to no dialogue which made me feel a bit ridiculous, I suppose that is a good sign. The story is absolutely insane but somehow doesn’t feel far-fetched (it is based on actual events, so maybe that’s why?). My only real issue with the film would be the slower pace of the 2nd half compared to the hilarious and lively first half. I can’t complain too much considering we had to have a conclusion to the story, but the ride was so much damn fun.
I expected above average acting for War Dogs and the final product certainly delivered. Jonah Hill and Miles Teller have incredible chemistry together, making for a very successful yet unconventional bond. I am a huge fan of both actors and felt like they did a phenomenal job keeping the audience entertained and most importantly making sure the film was far from boring. Interestingly enough, Jonah Hill gained quite a bit of weight after losing 40lbs prior to his role in 22 Jump Street. It seemed he was putting on the weight for this role but come to find out the man he portrayed in the film is very much of average size. Very odd. The only thing that makes sense to me is the fact that Hill was more or less ridiculed by people saying that he was funnier when he was fat. Well he is certainly fat once again, and to be quite honest he does seem to be funnier as well.
War Dogs is a highly entertaining film that simply has a lot of good things going for it. Generally big-budget Hollywood films based on actual events are very “loosely” based, but from the research I have done this one seems to be pretty spot on aside from some of the usual exaggerations. I mean this is just a crazy story and I’m glad Todd Phillips stepped up and put it on the big-screen. If you are a fan of Todd Phillips, Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, or simply value quality entertainment that actual teaches you a few things, War Dogs is worth every penny.
