The American Way..."War Dogs"

War Dogs (2016)  

Rated R

Starring Miles Teller, Jonah Hill, Kevin Pollak, Bradley Cooper,

Directed by Todd Phillips

The Story:

David (Teller) is looking for a better way of making a living when he runs into his old buddy Efraim (Hill). Efraim has been making a killing by bidding and winning low-level defense contracts that the big companies don't seem interested in. The two join forces and make their company grow exponentially. However, success goes to their heads, and they decide to bid on a contract that is so big, and so important, nobody else seems to want to touch it.

Naturally, this one is based on a true story.

In a world where the lives of the forces fighting for America's way of life are on the line, you want the lowest possible bidder to be in charge of supplying our troops with their protective gear and ammunition.

Or putting someone in charge that really has no idea what they are doing.

Many might claim I'm talking about the recent Presidential election, but no, I'm referring to two college age kids who get into the very lucrative defense contracting business, with no real clue what they are doing.

Using a bit of clever deceit, they would get information on other bids, and make sure they could come in with the lowest bid while still making a pretty penny.

It's when they decided to get greedy, really, really greedy, that things finally spun off the rails and the two ended up on the radar and facing charges.

The movie waffles between trying to be a comedy and a drama, so the tone is a bit uneven throughout. The dramedy can be difficult to pull off unless you commit early to it being funny, with serious moments, or serious with bits of humor and levity sprinkled throughout.

Still enjoyable, and the cast does a nice job of making their characters three dimensional and ones that you care about.

Final Grade: C+

They Don't Just Report The News... "Special Correspondents"

Special Correspondents (2016)

Rated TV-MA

Starring Ricky Gervais, Eric Bana, Vera Farmiga, Kelly MacDonald, Kevin Pollak, America Ferrera, Raul Castillo, Benjamin Bratt,

Written and Directed by Ricky Gervais

The Story:

Frank (Bana) is a great radio journalist in New York who pushes the envelope too often. His boss (Pollak) warns him that the next screw up will be his last. Taking technician Ian (Gervais) with him on assignment to Ecuador will be just the assignment he needs to show his boss that he's still got what it takes and keep his job secured. But when a strange turn of events leaves them stranded in New York, the duo hatch a scheme to report what's happening in Ecuador right from the streets of New York. When they begin breaking bigger news stories than anyone else, they find themselves at the very heart of the news they are reporting!

One of the Netflix original movies currently available for streaming, as noted it is written, directed and stars Ricky Gervais.

So unless you can't stand him, you might like this movie.

:)

The movie has a bit of a slow start, but it picks up nicely as the boys do all of their reporting from "Ecuador".

That's where a lot of the fun and humor sets in as they continue to break a story that wasn't a story at all, until they break it.

Eventually, the two become center to the storyline itself, and then it stretches credibility by making the guys break into Ecuador so that they can resolve the storyline honestly.

It would have been much easier to fake their way out of the country, but then you don't get the emotional finale.

It's a wonderful cast, and it's fun to see Bana again, in just about anything now that I think about it, but also looking to be having a little bit of fun with his character.

Final Grade: B-