okay, so i watched the movie war, inc. this weekend. it kind of took me by surprise because i was expecting it to be a serious thriller kind of movie. instead, i found it to be a shameless satirical comedy.
the thing that makes the movies satire really sting is its cynicism. the movie is so cynical, you can't take it seriously, you have to suspend disbelief and just laugh. the movie is set in the fictional country of turaqistan, which has just been invaded by the united states. actually, that's not entirely accurate. the invasion of turaqistan has been outsourced to the contractor, tamerlane, which is currently occupying the country so that american corporations can plunder ... er, develop ... the country. the genius thing about the movie is that, while it's set in third world country turaqistan, it manages to make poignant fun of american materialism and commercialism. it's only been a few months since the invasion/occupation and already turaqistan has its own britney spears wannabe pop star, yonica baby. (i'm not entirely sure that "baby" is actually part of her name, but most characters refer to her as "yonica baby.") there are fast food restaurants popping up all over the place. a trade show is opening in a giant arena. oh yeah, and they're diverting the river that flows through the city so that it flows right next to the trade show. (i know, right, why not put the trade show next to the river, instead of the other way around?) it's this kind of over the top kind of thing that makes the movie so satirically comedic.
anyway, the movie focusses on three central characters, an assassin who works for tamerlane (i don't know his real name but he's played by john cusack), yonica baby the pop star, and a tenacious anti-american reporter, whose name i also can't remember. the assassin is fronting as the manager of the trade show, so he has to work out everyone's differences, and put on a good face for the show, to make it look good, you know. his real job is to assassinate a local called omar shariff (not the actor). the reporter is kind of frustrated with the whole turaqistan experience. they're not letting her report on the real war, they only let her see footage that has obviously been edited. she develops a relationship with the assassin/trade show manager after initially rubbing each other the wrong way, they find themselves falling head over heels in tolerance of each other. this tolerance eventually matures into attraction. yonica baby is a difficult character. she appears to be a shallow materialistic whore who sells her body for fame and money. her wedding to her boyfriend/manager is scheduled to be one of the highlights of the trade show but it becomes increasingly obvious that her boyfriend/manager is an abusive jerk who's only after the money and is pimping yonica baby out. despite all the surface shallowness she puts on, yonica displays some startling depth when she thinks she's alone.
the scene that made me laugh out loud was one where the character played by john cusack goes to the war zone. he stops his car in a bombed out city and three children approach him, asking for candy. he replies that no, he didn't bring any candy with him this time, but he gives them a handful of american dollar bills in exchange for a bit of information, and he leaves his armoured truck with them. when he gets back, the truck windows have been smashed in, everything has been stolen out of it and the truck is on blocks because the tires are gone. "that's what you get for not bringing candy!" the little boy sneers, and runs off.
so, everything comes together at the ending, and its the ending that makes the movie worth watching. the movie kind of tortures you, makes you see all kinds of crazy stuff--there's talk of having one man drowned in pig dung and you have to watch tamerlane soldiers high on some kind of caffeine supplement massacre a bunch of unarmed civilians. but the ending makes all that somehow worthwhile. of course, you get the expected satisfaction of having tamerlane exposed and brought down. but the ending is just so optimistic and warm-hearted that it kind of jerked my head around because i thought i was watching a cynical, pessimistic movie.
so, if you like anti-american satire films, watch this one. it's fantastic.
the thing that makes the movies satire really sting is its cynicism. the movie is so cynical, you can't take it seriously, you have to suspend disbelief and just laugh. the movie is set in the fictional country of turaqistan, which has just been invaded by the united states. actually, that's not entirely accurate. the invasion of turaqistan has been outsourced to the contractor, tamerlane, which is currently occupying the country so that american corporations can plunder ... er, develop ... the country. the genius thing about the movie is that, while it's set in third world country turaqistan, it manages to make poignant fun of american materialism and commercialism. it's only been a few months since the invasion/occupation and already turaqistan has its own britney spears wannabe pop star, yonica baby. (i'm not entirely sure that "baby" is actually part of her name, but most characters refer to her as "yonica baby.") there are fast food restaurants popping up all over the place. a trade show is opening in a giant arena. oh yeah, and they're diverting the river that flows through the city so that it flows right next to the trade show. (i know, right, why not put the trade show next to the river, instead of the other way around?) it's this kind of over the top kind of thing that makes the movie so satirically comedic.
anyway, the movie focusses on three central characters, an assassin who works for tamerlane (i don't know his real name but he's played by john cusack), yonica baby the pop star, and a tenacious anti-american reporter, whose name i also can't remember. the assassin is fronting as the manager of the trade show, so he has to work out everyone's differences, and put on a good face for the show, to make it look good, you know. his real job is to assassinate a local called omar shariff (not the actor). the reporter is kind of frustrated with the whole turaqistan experience. they're not letting her report on the real war, they only let her see footage that has obviously been edited. she develops a relationship with the assassin/trade show manager after initially rubbing each other the wrong way, they find themselves falling head over heels in tolerance of each other. this tolerance eventually matures into attraction. yonica baby is a difficult character. she appears to be a shallow materialistic whore who sells her body for fame and money. her wedding to her boyfriend/manager is scheduled to be one of the highlights of the trade show but it becomes increasingly obvious that her boyfriend/manager is an abusive jerk who's only after the money and is pimping yonica baby out. despite all the surface shallowness she puts on, yonica displays some startling depth when she thinks she's alone.
the scene that made me laugh out loud was one where the character played by john cusack goes to the war zone. he stops his car in a bombed out city and three children approach him, asking for candy. he replies that no, he didn't bring any candy with him this time, but he gives them a handful of american dollar bills in exchange for a bit of information, and he leaves his armoured truck with them. when he gets back, the truck windows have been smashed in, everything has been stolen out of it and the truck is on blocks because the tires are gone. "that's what you get for not bringing candy!" the little boy sneers, and runs off.
so, everything comes together at the ending, and its the ending that makes the movie worth watching. the movie kind of tortures you, makes you see all kinds of crazy stuff--there's talk of having one man drowned in pig dung and you have to watch tamerlane soldiers high on some kind of caffeine supplement massacre a bunch of unarmed civilians. but the ending makes all that somehow worthwhile. of course, you get the expected satisfaction of having tamerlane exposed and brought down. but the ending is just so optimistic and warm-hearted that it kind of jerked my head around because i thought i was watching a cynical, pessimistic movie.
so, if you like anti-american satire films, watch this one. it's fantastic.
okay, a few small mistakes. first, it was sheep dung, not pig dung that they wanted to drown the guy in.
ReplyDeletesecond, the downfall of tamerlane is more of an implied possibility than a certainty, which brings into question my conclusion that the movie ends optimistically.
and third, the ending may not be worthwhile at all, because it involves a heat seeking missile tracking the plane the protagonists are flying off in ... with all the information that might bring about the demise of tamerlane. not so heartwarming at all. nevertheless, there is the strong possibility (based on previous missile launches) that the tamerlane missile malfunctions, therefore i remain optimistic.
I have better things to do with my time than to watch silly movies or read long reviews about them...
ReplyDeleteDon't people watch good movies nowadays? What about some good books?
By the way, Pat, I get excited when I find a good book like "What In The World is Going On?" by David Jeremiah because I see it as a tool that can be given to the unsaved. We need to reach out to the unsaved, this is a dying world people!
i have an idea for a blog you can write, you can call it "second opinions by mama c"
ReplyDeletenever mind, I guess you think I'm opinionated, hehehe!
ReplyDelete