Tribeca Review: War, Inc.

Posted by Tara Settembre (tara@filmschoolrejects.com) on May 1, 2008

One of the more star studded films at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival is War, Inc., a political satire co-scripted by John Cusack who also stars in the film along with Ben Kingley, Marisa Tomei, Hilary Duff, Joan Cusack and Dan Aykroyd. Unfortunately though, the film doesn’t live up to the expectations of its impressive cast.

War Inc. is set some time in the future—but when is never made clear— in the fictional desert country of Turaqistan, which has recently been liberated by a private corporation, owned by the former US vice-president (Dan Aykroyd), which has taken over the whole state. Brand Hauser (John Cusack) is a James Bond like hit man who is depressed and moral, and is hired by the corporation’s mysterious Viceroy to kill a Middle Eastern oil minister. Everything changes though when the ruthless killer finds himself head-over-heels in love with a liberal reporter portrayed by the lovely Marisa Tomei, and put in charge of the oversexed Central Asian pop star Yonica (Hilary Duff) as she prepares for her high-profile wedding. Still with me? Along the way there are jokes and comparisons to the current Iraq war and Bush of course. Basically though none of that really matters, the only thing good about this film are the three stars I just mentioned, who keep the movie watchable.

Making a big switch from her Disney image is Hilary Duff who plays a vixen obsessed with Western culture and looking to be understood. She outrageously flirts and comes on to Cusack, who has some dark secrets of his own (murdered wife, kidnapped daughter, stomach issues and a crazy CIA boss played by Ben Kingsley). In one very talked about scene at the festival and in the news is when Hilary’s character puts a scorpion down her pants and moans in ecstasy. In fact, this was one of the highlights of the film really.

The beginning is painful and I felt like I was out of the loop on an inside joke, but I started to keep pace eventually. It’s not because I’m slow on the uptake or anything, I just think the film tries to be cleverer than it really is and forgets to clue audiences in on the joke.

Overall, the film is hectic with scenes badly sewn and jumbled together with random flashbacks and characters and plots that aren’t fully introduced. The narrative resembles the war torn battlefield where the film is set and the transitions are abrupt and come at you like rapid fire. However, I’m not sure if this is done on purpose or due to bad directing, editing or cut scenes.

Now, I didn’t hate this movie nor did I love it by any means, but it would still make for a decent rental if you’re a Cusack fan or have a crush on Tomei or Duff.

The Upside: Hilary being a bad girl.

The Downside: Rocky start, minimally funny and bloody at parts.

On the Side: War, Inc was filmed in Bulgaria.

Read more articles by Tara Settembre