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	...	Self
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.

---

Plot Keywords:

corporation | satire | reporter | assassin | pop star | 

---

Taglines:

Business is booming.

---

Genres:

Action | Comedy | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and brief sexual material

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character names Ooq-Mi-Fay and Ooq-Yu-Fay, loosely translated from Pig Latin, are "f**k me" and "f**k you".

---

Goofs

As Omar leaves the restaurant wearing his glasses, the camera pans back to the dinner table where his glasses can still be seen.

---

Quotes

Brand Hauser: Look, we've already kicked the shit out of this place. What are we supposed to do? Turn our backs on all the entrepreneur possibilities? Business is a uniquely human response to a moral or cosmic crisis. Whether it's a tsunami or a sustained aerial bombardment, there's the same urgent call for urban renewal.

---

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.

---

Connections

Featured in Inside the Actors Studio: John Cusack (2007)

---

Soundtracks

Yalla, Yalla
Written by Richard Graham, Thomas Norris, Pablo Cook, Joe Strummer (as John Mellor)
Performed by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros (as Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros)
Published by BMG Songs Inc (ASCAP) / Universal Music Publishing Limited Administered by Universal - Polygram International Publishing,
Inc (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Mercury
By Arrangement with Universal Music Group

User Reviews

"...sh-t happens"

Joshua Seftel's first film - a satire of memorable proportions - is about just as the title suggests: The corporations effect on War.

The film is about a mercenary (John Cusack) traveling to Turaqistan (not a real country, fyi) to help the American government 'get their message across' to Turaqistan's leaders. He meets a reporter (Marisa Tomei) and we all know what will ensue with a lonely man + a hot reporter. Somewhere in the mix, a pop star named Yonica Babyyeah gets thrown in. As Yonica is marrying one of Turaquistan's most important people (a son of the president), a subplot is created where the mercenary must watch over this star, well, somewhat. The film starts off with a lonely Cusack in a bar; no more than fifteen seconds later, the film hooks you. With it's amusing and intriguing insight on terrorism and politics, the film's running time blows by you. The film has a lot more action than I expected, with the occasional scene of war, well choreographed fights and just sporadic scenes of murder. Though the story isn't much deep, the simplicity of it all makes the film perfect for both the common man and movie critics alike.

In the final act of the film, the simplicity of it all turns very hostile and jumbled. I thought it was executed very well, but other may disagree, and I could understand why. Twist after twist is what the ending is all about, and like most films, it is a true hit/miss situation. Regardless, the three writers on the film (Mark Leyner, Jeremy Pikser & John Cusack) did a fantastic job creating a realistic and entertaining satire on today's situation overseas.

Joshua Seftel does an excellent job insuring the film's integrity; not reducing the material to the most redundant of films (which I was afraid would happen). Seftel crafted the film as perfectly as one could: he created a vibrant atmosphere, one that is both examines harsh reality and cartoonish falsities; - contrasting them perfectly - as well as making the film feel as if you were watching it all. Seftel really gets you involved in all of the action and it pays off completely. No missteps here. Hopefully, he takes on more directorial jobs, for he is one director to look out for.

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:

$35,336, 25 May 2008

Gross USA:

$580,862

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,296,184

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