War, Inc. (2008)

A corporation hires a professional assassin to pose as its trade show representative who must organize the wedding of a Middle Eastern pop star, which will allow him the opportunity to kill a Middle Eastern politician.

Director:

Joshua Seftel

Writers:

Mark Leyner, Jeremy Pikser

Stars:

John Cusack, Marisa Tomei, Hilary Duff

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cusack	...	Hauser
Hilary Duff	...	Yonica Babyyeah
Marisa Tomei	...	Natalie Hegalhuzen
Joan Cusack	...	Marsha Dillon
Dan Aykroyd	...	Mr. Vice President
Sergej Trifunovic	...	Ooq-Mi-Fay Taqnufmini
Ned Bellamy	...	Ooq-Yu-Fay Taqnufmini / Zubleh
John McLaughlin	...	Himself
Montel Williams	...	GuideStar Voice (voice)
Ben Kingsley	...	Walken / The Viceroy
Lyubomir Neikov	...	Omar Sharif (as Lubomir Neikov)
Nikolay Stanoev	...	Bhodi Bhundhang (as Nikolai Stanoev)
George Zlatarev	...	Director (as Georgi Zlatarev)
Bashar Rahal	...	Video Guy #1
Velislav Pavlov	...	Video Guy #2 (as Vesilav Pavlov)

Storyline

A political satire set in Turaqistan, a country occupied by an American private corporation run by a former US Vice President. In an effort to monopolize the opportunities the war-torn nation offers, the corporation's CEO hires a troubled hit man, to kill a Middle East oil minister. Now, struggling with his own growing demons, the assassin must pose as the corporation's Trade Show Producer in order to pull off this latest hit, while maintaining his cover by organizing the high-profile wedding of Yonica Babyyeah, an outrageous Middle Eastern pop star, and keeping a sexy left wing reporter in check.

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Plot Keywords:

corporation | satire | reporter | assassin | pop star | 

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Taglines:

Business is booming.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and brief sexual material

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hungarian

Release Date:

13 June 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brand Hauser: Stuff Happens

Filming Locations:

New Boyana Film Studios, Sofia, Bulgaria

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$45,714, 25 May 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$580,862

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,299,855

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Crime Productions, B & W Films, Boyana Film Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The corporation, Tamerlane, refers to Timur, known in the West as Tamerlane. Timur conquered a great deal of central and western Asia in the 14th Century and founded the Timurid Empire and Timurid dynasty.

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Goofs

As Natalie leaves Hauser's office the door is open, presumably to allow the camera to get the shot of her leaving. However, Houser shut it only moments earlier after he asked Marsha to call him.

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Quotes

Brand Hauser: That was beautiful. Have you recorded it yet?
Yonica Babyyeah: Fat fucking chance.
Brand Hauser: Well, you should. I feel like I'm seeing you for the first time.
Yonica Babyyeah: You've seen my ass, and you're not liking it.
Brand Hauser: Why do you do that?
Yonica Babyyeah: Do what?
Brand Hauser: Talk as if you've got no soul.
Yonica Babyyeah: Nobody cares for my beautiful soul. They care for my ass.
Brand Hauser: Please, you sound like a tramp.
Yonica Babyyeah: Bitches rule. Yonica rules. Virgins are good for getting fucked. Right? That is what I'm good for. Right? That's what everybody knows. Hmm?
[...]

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Crazy Credits

BeTolerant.com is listed twice in the thanks section of the credits, despite this resulting in an odd number of entries and causing the last entry to have to go against the rest of the layout (centered, vs two-column) to keep things even.

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Connections

References Blazing Saddles (1974)

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Soundtracks

Aboun Salehoun
Written by Youssef El Mejjad, Pat Jabbar
Performed by Amira Saqati
Published by Copyright Control (SUISA)
Courtesy of Barraka El Farnatshi

User Reviews

A Funny and Topical satire.

In War, Inc we find the logical extension of the current outsourcing of all war-related activities we are currently doing in Afghanistan and Iraq. If you are familiar with the antics of Halliburton, Kellogg, Brown & Root and Blackwater overseas you are already halfway home to fully appreciating the satire of Cusack's latest piece. Cusack plays a corporate hit-man named Brand Hauser who finds himself in Turiquistan organizing a trade show in the newly liberated country as his cover while waiting to get access to his latest target. While there he finds himself intrigued by the anti-establishment reporter played by Marisa Tomei and pursued by the over-sexualized pop star played by Hilary Duff. We are introduced to Hauser's past, which includes a tragedy that has haunted him ever since and the corporate assistant named Marsha Dillon who actually is running the entire operation for him (and played hilariously by Joan Cusack). While some moments are played suitably over the top, they aren't always the moments you expect and the little touches often catch you by surprise. All the principals turn in solid performances. Duff's accent comes and goes but otherwise she does a very nice job and goes a long way to dispel her Disney image. Tomei is funny but understated while the Cusack's own nearly every scene they are in. To be fair, they are given good material. The writers turn in a good script with enough twists and turns and visual gags to keep you giggling throughout all the way to the predictable conclusion. In fact, the predictability of the end is the only thing that keeps me from rating it higher as the story twists and turns it's way to the expected conclusion.

If you like your comedy broad and physical, there is probably not enough here to keep you interested the entire movie. On the other hand, if you like sly comedy and broad satire, this is for you.