War Dogs (2016)

Loosely based on the true story of two young men, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a three hundred million dollar contract from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan.

Director:

Todd Phillips

Writers:

Stephen Chin (screenplay), Todd Phillips (screenplay)

Stars:

Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Steve Lantz

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Miles Teller	...	David Packouz
Steve Lantz	...	Security Guard
Gregg Weiner	...	Massage Client
David Packouz	...	Singer at Hilldale Home
Eddie Jemison	...	Hilldale Home Manager
Julian Sergi	...	Rosen
Daniel Berson	...	Rabbi
Jonah Hill	...	Efraim Diveroli
Edson Jean	...	Drug Dealer
Daimion Johnson	...	Drug Dealer (as Damion Johnson)
Bethuel Fletcher	...	Drug Dealer
Ana de Armas	...	Iz
Kevin Pollak	...	Ralph Slutsky
Gabriela Alvarez	...	Club Girl
Dan Bilzerian	...	Dan Bilzerian

Storyline

In 2005, David Packouz lives in Miami, Florida, working as a massage therapist and living with his girlfriend Iz. Desiring an additional source of income, David spends his life savings on high-quality Egyptian cotton sheets, planning to sell them to Miami retirement homes, but this venture fails to produce results. At a funeral for a friend, David runs into his high school best friend Efraim Diveroli, who had moved to Los Angeles some years prior to work with his uncle selling guns. Efraim has left his uncle and formed his own company, AEY, which fills orders for arms placed by the US government due to the ongoing war in Iraq. David's life takes another turn when his girlfriend informs him that she is pregnant. Efraim offers him a job at AEY, and even though David and Iz both vehemently oppose the war, David eventually agrees, telling his girlfriend that he has begun selling his cotton sheets to the US government through Efraim's contacts..

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Plot Keywords:

deal | contract | military | ugly american | ammunition | 

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Taglines:

Money, corruption and the American dream

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Crime | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout, drug use and some sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Cambodia

Language:

English Arabic Albanian Romanian

Release Date:

19 August 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

War Dogs

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,685,305, 21 August 2016

Gross USA:

$43,034,523

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$86,234,523

Company Credits

Production Co:

BZ Entertainment, Green Hat Films, Icon Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The real David Packouz appears in the movie, singing "Don't Fear The Reaper" in the retirement home where Miles Teller tries to sell sheets.

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Goofs

David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli were not the same age as the movie claims. Diveroli is three years older than Packouz.

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Quotes

David Packouz: [From the beginning of the film, as Miles Teller's character, David Packaouz, narrates over visuals of soldiers in war and as price figures of what a soldier's gear costs are displayed] What do you know about war? They'll tell you it's about patriotism, democracy... or some shit about the other guy hating our freedom. But you wanna know what it's really about? What do you see? A kid from Arkansas doing his patriotic duty to defend his country? I see a helmet, fire-retardant gloves, body armor ...

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Connections

Features The Situation Room (2005)

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Soundtracks

Forsythia
from Contagion (2011)
Written by Cliff Martinez

User Reviews

Eye opening - very interesting and funny look at arms dealing

The story is eye opening, relevant and very clearly told with a humorous tone through the serious subject matter. This is based on a true story with some fictionalized elements to make it entertaining. A massage therapist links up with a childhood friend who is a small time arms dealer. Very interesting to get a look at the legal but morally questionable world of arms dealing. I thought this would be a juvenile buddy movie with a bit of war thrown in but it isn't.

Jonah Hill has some funny lines and he does a great job with the over the top character but he can be subtly sinister when he needs to be. Miles Teller plays his character sympathetically and I liked him here. Quite different from the rather annoying characters he usually plays. Bradley Cooper who produced the movie and has a small but pivotal role and he is effective as an arms dealer.

Quite a transporting experience as the action takes you from Miami to Jordan and Iraq with some funny situations there and Albania.

Watch this movie. It deserves to do better than it has so far.