Based on a real story, “War Dogs,” directed by Todd Phillips, is a bizarre tale about a couple of guys, friends from high school, who tap into a goldmine of selling guns to the U.S. military. It’s hard to believe, but the Pentagon apparently offers bidding of contracts on the internet, and the interlopers take advantage of the opportunity to become arms dealers.
The instigator of the operation is Efraim, an unscrupulous, larger than life fellow amusingly played by Jonah Hill, who has an outsized laugh that will shake a room. He and his one-time school buddy, David, connect at a funeral service. In contrast to Efraim, David is earnestly played by Miles Teller, who loves Iz, his trusting fiancé (Ana de Armas) and is struggling in Florida to make a living. A gambit in which he tries to sell quality sheets to homes for the aged fizzles because the places don’t want to spend more money than necessary on those regarded condescendingly as on their way to death.
David is sucked into the gun-running operation with the tantalizing promise of big bucks. Both he and Iz are against the war in Iraq, but off he goes to Iraq on a deal. Of course, David lies to Iz about what he is doing, and ultimately the increased deceptions threaten their relationship.
Director Phillips takes us on a wild and crazy journey in which Efriam and David take dangerous risks and plunge deeper and deeper into illegality. In Albania, ammunition they are acquiring for the military comes in crates indicating that they are from China, and such dealings with China are outlawed. The solution Efriam hits upon: repack the ammunition in different containers.
In the process they become involved with a mysterious but well-connected and powerful arms dealer played with cool menace by Bradley Cooper. Ultimately, as in the real-life events on which the film is built, the buddies are nailed by the FBI. By then David has become hardened, and as one can predict from the outset, Efriam will have tried to screw David out of his earnings just as Efraim has screwed others in his way.
The story seems more an more outrageous as it unfolds, part comedy and part action-suspense caper. The performances by Hill and Teller make the wacky international ride enjoyable even as credibility is strained. A Warner Bros. release. Reviewed August 19, 2016.