WAR DOGS : Tuesday 23rd August 2016.

'WAR DOGS' which I saw this week is Directed, written for the screen and Co-Produced by Todd Phillips and based on a 'Rolling Stone' article written by Guy Lawson and later made into a book by him called 'Arms and the Dudes'. This biographical war crime drama comedy is based on a true story that happened as recently as 2007, although some of the content has been fictionalised for the sake of dramatic effect and spinning a good yarn. Made for US$40M the film has so far grossed US$25M, the film centres around two young men and business partners Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz - the former a self made millionaire arms dealer by the time he was eighteen, and the latter a massage therapist turned arms dealer when he went into partnership with his childhood friend and best buddy. This is their story . . . of sorts!

The film kicks off with Packouz (Miles Teller) working as a weed smoking massage therapist for the more exclusive clients of Miami's South Beach area for US$70 an hour. He's struggling financially and is always on the look out for a scam with which to make a quick buck. He buys a job lot of high quality Egyptian cotton bed linen which he thinks he can sell to the retirement villages and aged care facilities around the State, but those places don't want to invest in such high quality bed sheets and pillow cases for the oldies so he's stuck with a consignment of boxes in his lounge room, much to the disgust of his girlfriend Iz (Ana de Armas). Packouz attends the funeral of a friend, and at that funeral siddles up Diveroli (Jonah Hill) to pay his last respects, unexpectedly from LA where he had been working in his Uncle's police supply business. We learn that Packouz and Diveroli have history together growing up as best friends, although had lost contact for ten years until now. They have some catching up to do!

It turns out that Diveroli has been buying and on-selling heavy arms in a one room apartment in Miami armed with nothing more than a laptop computer and mobile phone, and had gained a certain wealth and notoriety for doing so despite his young years. He would trawl through the FedBizOpps government website for legitimate contracts to buy and sell arms, but would keep his trading just small enough to fly under the radar knowing that the government had to award a certain number of such contracts to 'the little guys'. He lets Packouz in on his business and pretty soon the two have an unofficial arrangement whereby Diveroli splits his profits on a 70/30 basis, under the banner of his company AEY. Inc.. With the two of them working the computer screens looking for suitable contracts to exploit, it is not long before more contracts are awarded to AEY. Inc and more dollars start to roll in . . . millions of dollars!

Packouz and Iz buy a high rise apartment from his new found wealth, and soon afterwards announces that she is pregnant, but she does not know where the money is coming from believing that his arrangement with Diveroli is to sell Egyptian cotton bed linen to his government connections and therefore everything is legit. The two partners also buy matching Porsche's with registrations 'Guns' and 'Ammo'! Meanwhile there's a side story here about the need to supply Beretta pistols to the US Army in Iraq worth US$2M+ to the pair, and the lengths they'll go to to deliver on their commitment for fear of being blacklisted! This didn't actually happen and is poetic license, but it makes for some interesting scenes and dialogue between the two and the antics they have to contend with to deliver their shipment for their biggest pay day to date.

One evening, while going through the latest tenders up for bid Packouz stumbles across a contract to supply arms and ammunition to the allied forces in Afghanistan. This includes a commitment to supply one hundred million rounds of AK-47 ammunition under this single contract together with assault rifles, sundry other weapons and artillery merchandise. They make a decision to bid, and as part of the process are subject to much scrutiny by the government authorities letting the tender. They go about falsifying company documents, statements and records going back three years to prove they are a trustworthy, responsible and reliable company with the credentials to deliver on the contract, and are ultimately successful in winning the deal at US$300M.

In their search for a single contact to help them deliver on their successfully bid contract, they come across shady veteran arms trader Henry Girard (Bradley Cooper) at an arms convention in Las Vegas, who tells them he can can solely help them deliver on the deal. It's not long before the guys travel to Albania where there are stockpiles of now redundant arms and munitions left over from the Cold War days scattered around the country in hundreds of secret warehouses. They come across dodgy weapons traders, crooked military types, corrupt officials, soldiers of fortune, hold clandestine meetings and deal in secret to get their weapons and munitions stash out of the country.

In one such military warehouse they come across in a single stash the one hundred million rounds of ammunition needed to satisfy that part of the contract. The problem is that it's 42 years old substandard Chinese manufactured rounds that have been stored dry and clean in their original timber and now crumbling packing cases for all that time. Perfectly serviceable, but Chinese and four decades old, and therefore in contravention to the US arms embargo against China. Simple solution - bribe a local packaging company to repack all the ammunition into nice clean zip lock bags and lightweight double walled cardboard boxes. This would save US$3M in freight costs in exchange for US$100K to pay of the repackaging company. A no-brainer!

This meant that Packouz had to remove himself to Albania to oversee the repacking (a process that would take months), whilst Diveroli sat back in the comfort of his office in Miami like a fat-cat! Meanwhile Iz and their baby had split after learning of the real game her boyfriend was involved in. With tensions mounting between Packouz and Diveroli, the former makes a hasty retreat back to Miami to confront his business partner and end their partnership wanting full settlement of his 30% share in the company, but without a binding contract he gets nothing, only fuelling the fire already burning between the two of them.

With the relationship crumbling and Diveroli neglecting to pay the packing guy back in Albania, the FBI start circling and asking lots of questions. Company records and hard drives are seized as the truth comes out about Chinese substandard ammunition. Ultimately the two are arrested on numerous counts of fraud against the United States Government. Diveroli was convicted of four years in federal prison and was released in November 2015, and Packouz served seven months under house arrest, by which time he has reconciled with his (fictional) partner Iz. The US Army suffice to say, reviewed its contracting procedures.

I enjoyed 'War Dogs' - the laugh out moments delivered by the absurdity of this 'true story', the conviction of Hill's performance as determined take no prisoners over weight over bearing gun loving money hungry young businessman, the way the film meanders along with voice over narrative, distinct chapter breaks and the roles played by supporting cast, Miles Teller as the more grounded Yin to Hill's Yang, Cooper's smiling assassin, and Kevin Pollack as silent partner in Diveroli's shady business Ralph Slutzky. But, for all of that without some poetic license in here, and some fictionalisation, this story would be rather flat and uneventful. Diveroli is not a likeable character drawing continued inspiration from 'Scarface', and in the end you can argue that they got what they deserved as a result of their lowest bid warmongering that in the final analysis was their undoing. Certainly worth a look - lifted by moments of comedy, a lot of drama, a well told story and strong performances from the two principle leads.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-