War, Inc. (2008)

Director:

Joshua Seftel

Writers (WGA):

Mark Leyner (written by) &
Jeremy Pikser (written by) ...

Release Date:

28 August 2008 (Russia)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

When it comes to war...America means business

Plot:

A political satire set in Turaqistan, a country occupied by an American private corporation run by a former US Vice-President (Aykroyd)...

Cast

John Cusack	...	Brand Hauser
Joan Cusack	...	Marsha Dillon
Marisa Tomei	...	Natalie Hegalhuzen
Hilary Duff	...	Yonica Babyyeah
Ben Kingsley	...	Walken
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dan Aykroyd	...	The Vice President
Ned Bellamy	...	Zubleh / Ooq-Yu-Fay Taqnufmini
Velizar Binev	...	German Businessman
Shirly Brener	...	Hauser's Wife
Marc Casabani	...	Various (voice)
Ben Cross	...	Medusa Hair
Doug Dearth	...	Geoff
Itai Diakov	...	Boy
Georgi Gatzov	...	Soundman
Nick Harvey	...	Preacher
Lyubomir Neikov	...	Omar
Rachel O'Meara	...	Implanted Reporter
Velislav Pavlov	...	Video guy #2
Bashar Rahal	...	Video Guy #1
Joost Scholte	...	Cashier
Stanimir Stamatov	...	Posse guy
Sergej Trifunovic	...	Ooq-Mi-Fay Taqnufmini
Montel Williams	...	GuideStar
George Zlatarev	...	Director

Also Known As:

Brand Hauser: Stuff Happens (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and brief sexual material.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Boyana Film, Sofia, Bulgaria

Company:

New Crime Productions

Trivia:

John Cusack first became interested in making the film when he read Naomi Klein's 2004 article "Baghdad Year Zero".

Quotes:

Natalie Hegalhuzen: You know that all my writings have called this occupation a violation of international law and its practitioners are criminals?
Brand Hauser: Do you really believe all this stuff you write?
Natalie Hegalhuzen: Anyone who can causes this much mayhem when they didn't have to? The amount of suffering that I've seen?
Brand Hauser: I know.
[helicoper flies overhead]
Brand Hauser: [speaking on the phone] Ok. Hold on a sec.
[speaking to Natalie again]
Brand Hauser: But the way I look at it is this: the day we can actually feel and hear all the suffering of mankind, that's the day when "The Christ" will come back! So we got that going for us.
[speaking on the phone again]
Brand Hauser: I'll be out in a minute.
[...]

A funny, silly ride

Don't mistake "War Inc." for a sharply chiseled satire or a brainy comedy full of inside jokes for news buffs. It isn't.

This is an old-fashioned screwball comedy, with ridiculously coincidental plot twists, stock characters (given some depth in fun performances by John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Marisa Tomei and Hillary Duff) and a straightforward approach to the political content.

You see, the filmmakers' political points are things nearly all of the country already knows are true. Yeah, we understand that the corporations profiting off the war are corrupt, inept pigs, the political leaders in charge of it are even more inept buffoons, and American imperialism has never looked crasser and more out of touch than it does right now -- but none of that is the point.

Here, all of that noise is the setting that they lampoon -- sometimes in genius ways -- as the backdrop for a silly romp, as John Cusack's character (the hit-man with a heart) tries to change his life with the help of the do-gooder journalist who doesn't trust him (Tomei) and the young Middle Eastern starlet who wants to call off her marriage (Duff). Cusack's sister, Joan, plays his assistant with an almost cartoonishly enthusiastic quality. Ben Kingsley seemed to me wasted in his smaller part as a ruthless CIA boss.

That's all, and it works. It's simple fun, but if somehow you can't see reality and you think the war is going well and everyone involved with it is doing a good job and there's no corruption and people in the Middle East wish our Western culture would supplant theirs, then you might not find it as funny.

For all the rest of us, it was a light comedy with a political edge.