Lord of War

PPV movie over at my mom's, with grandma and Greg.  I remember wanting to see this from the previews.  They portrayed it as a comedy.  One line I loved was,

"We're from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms."

"I'm guessing you're not here about the alcohol or tobacco."

And the early portions of the movie were largely in that style.  How Nicholas Cage's character got into the gun trade business.  Basically, starting in his New York neighborhood and using his natural charm.  They show him moving up and giving his spiel to various foreign leaders.  He's a fast talker and is selling piles and crates of weapons.

They also show him dodging the authorities on occasion.  Ethan Hawke (I didn't recognize him in this movie) is onto him and they show him coming close a time or two.

One of Cage's strongest motivations is a crush he's had on a girl (Bridget Moynahan, way yummy)  from his high school.  At the point where he makes his move on her he's still small-time.  He puts on a facade that he's much wealthier and pulls it off.  And again, he shows his understanding of and ability to read people.

He has to deal with his brother, who becomes a repeat cocaine addict.  And, he hides the entire thing from his wife, the high school crush.  He's in "sales."

All this, and even some heavy subjects (he and his brother see their guns being used in executions) are handled somewhat to very light-heartedly.

Then, fairly abruptly about halfway through the movie, the tone changes drastically.   It becomes much more sober.  He loses control of the situation when selling to the leader of a third-world nation.  His brother drops out.  The Feds are closing in and his wife confronts him.

And he tries to go legit.

That builds to the climax of the movie, which is somewhat predictible.  But they throw an interesting twist into the aftermath.

On my brother's Total Movie Value Scale, Pay Per View with Dinner.  The movie started out fun, went way sober, and ended somewhat thought-provokingly.

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