Starring: John Cusack; Marisa Tomei; Hilary Duff; and Dan Aykroyd.
Reviewed by Noelle Ashley
War Inc. sold out for all three of its screenings at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. Comedy is war and war is comedy in this smart and startling film, which stars John Cusack and Marisa Tomei. Written by John Cusack, Jeremy Pisker and Mark Leyner, the script satirizes the profitability of the war, the military's privatization and global commercialization, with memorably funny scenes as the former Vice President (Dan Aykroyd) has his private company take over a war-torn nation and hires a hit man to kill the competition.
The film makes a striking mockery of not only the government's spin on war, but also the treatment of women. Hilary Duff proves her acting talent in a comically brilliant role as Yonica Babbyyeah, teen heartthrob to all of Turaqi. Babbyyeah gyrates in dance videos to "I Want To Blow You Up" and "Boom, Boom, Bang, Bang, there's a war going on," lyrics that merged politics with pop.
Since their society values women for their virginity, Babbyyeah's fiancé has a money-making scheme that takes capitalism to a whole new level: videotaping their honeymoon night so the girl's first time can be purchased by millions. One ludicrous scene is available to YouTube fans who can download clips of her getting sexy with a scorpion.
War Inc. was filmed in Bulgaria, which had its advantages. The crew consisted of mostly Bulgarian locals and, on a budget of less than $10 million, director Joshua Seftel pulled off explosion scenes resembling a $60-$80 million film.
With fast-moving dialogue and parodies of politicians such as Dick Cheney, War Inc. received early buzz for achieving a laugh-out-loud political satire in a feature film.
War Inc. opens on May 23, 2008.
War Inc. opens on May 23, 2008.
