Rating of
2.5/4
"War, Inc" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 02/29/12
In the near future corporations rule the world rather than nation states and disputes are settled by a heavily armed "arbitrator" played by John Cusack. The combination of black comedy and extreme violence and the presence of the Cusacks and Dan Aykroyd will be familiar to anyone who has seen Grosse Point Blank. It's essentially a political satire, Turekistan being an obvious analogy for the events in the middle east; a kind of "Thank You For Smoking Guns". As political satire it has all the subtlety of a scud launcher, some of the physical comedy bordering on Zucker/Abrams territory, but it also has enough smart, witty and well observed dialogue to offend "patriots" everywhere and no doubt get everyone involved on the NSA's shitlist. The leads are all excellent, John and Marisa making a smart and sexy couple, Joan is hilarious as his company sidekick and Aykroyd once again supplies a memorable cameo. I couldn't help thinking it could've been a masterpiece if they'd shown a little more restraint, but the hit and miss comedy is on target far more often than off and it's nice to see an American comedy that's both intelligent and has something to say.
