Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto

8 out of 10 stars: Andrew Niccol's films often concern themselves with identity.

In The Truman Show Jim Carrey's character, Truman Burbank, is completely unaware of his real identity as it pertains to his environment; he is a man raised entirely in a "reality show" though he's entirely unaware of that fact.

In Gattaca genetics have so infiltrated a future society that the only sure identity for an individual is the specifications provided by their DNA. In this world, Vincent (Ethan Hawke) one of the last examples of a naturally born person (and thus susceptible to commonplace inherited frailties) assumes the identity of Jerome (Jude Law) using his skin, hair and urine samples.

In S1mOne, director Viktor Transky (Al Pacino) manufactures a computer generated actress (named Simone) who has no real presence, no actual identity, yet who becomes as powerful and manipulative as any flesh and blood thespian could ever hope to be.

In Lord of War we meet Yuri Olov (Nicolas Cage) a man with numerous identities (and the passports to back them up) who is a freelance arms dealer. Neither his parents nor even his wife know his true profession. He is a covert operative of profit; a man without a country, and without a name (Olov isn't even his name; his father had changed their original name when they emigrated from the Ukraine).

Yuri gets into the business by starting small, involving his brother Vitaly (Jared Leto), in his petty shipments and minor transactions to third world countries. As he starts to establish himself Yuri pursues the girl of his dreams, Ava Fontaine (Bridget Moynahan), duping her into marrying him.

But Yuri vaults to a preeminent position in the world of arms dealing when the cold war ends. Suddenly he finds himself set with a supplier-his uncle in the Soviet army is only too willing to sell the Red Army's munitions for cheap-and countless customers, as the Eastern Bloc explodes into civil war as do most of the African nations.

His only real problems are a rival gun runner, played by Ian Holm, an honest Federal Agent, played by Ethan Hawke, and his best customer, the certifiable Andre Baptiste Sr, played by the great Eamonn Walker.

In addition to the outstanding cast Lord of War boasts an outstanding screenplay, one of the best of the year. It strains its running time between the desire to unload facts and figures about the international arms trade, to tell the truly interesting (though often repugnant) tale it has to tell, and to include Niccol's less interesting (though equally repugnant) characters.

And perhaps it's this wealth of fascinating facts and delicious anecdotes and scenarios that weighs Lord of War down. Or perhaps it's the somber subject matter (one can imagine a young Robert Altman making a rip-snorting film out this material). But something does weigh the film down. It drags when it should not, such as a scene where Yuri repaints the name on the freighter he's using to smuggle guns. It's uninvolving when it should be emotionally devastating, such as Eva discovering her husband's true vocation. There is a bad dream sequence that relies on some heavy-handed analogies (even hyenas don't want to consort with Yuri!) as well.

But all in all it's a film of ingenuity, integrity and subtlety. It is ingenious in the nature of the storytelling. The film rarely supplies the answer we think it's going to give us. Its integrity comes from its unwavering goal. It is subtle in the way that it approaches the true identity of Yuri Olov, this hideous man who profits from the misery and warfare of others. He is, of course, ultimately a proxy for us, the United States. And no matter where you land on the political spectrum you would be hard pressed to disagree with Niccol's point that we've been watching, unwittingly, one of our freelance contractors, making a buck and selling his wares, all in the face of our own complacency.

Andrew Niccol is a filmmaker who is asking hard questions about who we are and what we are. But it's not easy to look in that mirror. Maybe that's why his wonderful films only are recognized later on. As Lord of War will be.