Think bullets. Think lots of bullets, the empty shell casings littering the ground as far as the eye can see, in the middle of smoking ruins, and a man in a natty, tailored suit with briefcase in hand surveying it all.

Say hello, boys and girls, to Yuri Orlov (Nicholas Cage), your friendly neighborhood arms dealer. As we watch the process of a bullet being made, Yuri informs us that Orlov really isn't his name. He's a Ukrainian who has grown up in America, in the Little Odessa section of Brooklyn, with his family -- they posed as Russian Jews to get out of the Soviet Union, but as fate would have it, his father Anatoly, actually considers himself a Jew, and practices the faith accordingly, something that infuriates his mother.

Yuri has grown up with near constant violence in his life, with the Russian mafiya shooting each other in the rival restaurant across the street, and he knows he doesn't want to be in the restaurant trade like his younger brother Vitaly (Jared Leto). What Yuri dreams of is money, enough to get out of Little Odessa, and of the beautiful local beauty queen, Ava Fontaine (Bridget Moynahan). And he settles on providing weapons as the means to get both.

And he discovers that he's good at it. His first sale, that of an UZI to a local gangster is a tremendous rush, a high that is as intoxicating as sex, and Yuri soon finds himself going to an arms fair in Paris, where countries bargain for the best and newest in killing machines. It's there that he meets up with Simon Weisz (Ian Holm), an arms broker who informs the eager Yuri that he is way out of his league and not to waste his time. It's a slight that Yuri isn't about to forget.

With little brother Vitaly in tow, Yuri starts out small, working in the banana republics of central and South America, but disaster hits when a dealer pays in cocaine rather than cold hard cash. Yuri first tries to turn down the deal, but discovers that he can't say no, and especially that Vitaly can't say no to cocaine. While Yuri likes the occasional toot, Vitaly dives head first into the glories of blow, and turns into a full-blown addict. Unfortunately, it's a trait that doesn't help in the trade of war, and so Yuri has to pack him off to a rehab center.

The breakthrough comes when the Soviet Union falls apart and Yuri strikes a deal with his Uncle Dimitri (Eugene Lazarev), a Russian general who has a lot of weapons that no one is really going to miss. Sadly for Yuri, this puts him in competition with Simon Weisz, who doesn't play nicely at all. With that as well, Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke), a truly moral man, is also after him, and is determined to see him in jail.

And as for Yuri, witness to atrocities and death, not only finds himself able to get the luscious Ava, but also has to face the morals of his trade. Which will win out, starts to come to the forefront when he gets tangled up with the President of Liberia, Andre Baptiste (Eamonn Walker), and his maniacal son, Andrew Jr., taking Yuri on his own personal trip to the dark side one night in Monrovia...

This is a very dark and twisted film, with plenty of sex, violence, brutality, drugs and some savage humour. While Nicholas Cage does give a credible performance as Yuri, the soul-dead quasi-hero of the story, the real star of this is Eamonn Walker as the dictator. He has a certain swagger and brutal charm, and is sinister enough to send chills down anyone spine.

While the message is pretty apparent in this, and the viewer can figure out where the plot is going right from the start, it's watching Yuri and the people around him that make the story. No one really has a conscience, or much of a soul, not even Ava, when she learns the ugly truth. Director (and writer) Andrew Nichol provides a coherent, and very real story of mankind's favourite sport, that of killing each other.

Presented in a special, two disc, DVD version, this is not a film for children, and for most adults. The violence is raw, the subject matter gruesome, and I don't recommend it for anyone with a weak stomach. The surrealism here is stark, and while we might have a chuckle or two at Yuri's various predicaments and cat-and-mouse games with Valentine, it's not happy either.

Extras on the DVD include a 'making of' featurette, commentaries, deleted scenes, a documentary about the arms trade, and about the various weapons mentioned in the film, all of which are on the second disc. There is a plethora of foreign languages in the film, which is a nice touch for authenticity, and subtitles are provided for those occasions. Alas, there isn't any subtitles or audio language extras in this.

It's not a film that I can positively recommend for anyone. The violence is intense, and the story itself brutal enough that you're going to be rather overwhelmed and numb by the end. While there is some moralizing on the evils of war, and that's to be expected, there's nothing to really balance the amorality of the various characters, which in the end, really lets the film down. Parents should note that this film has an R rating and rightly so.

Overall, about three stars from me. While I do like sardonic humour in film, this is one that just doesn't make the cut for me. Watch with caution.





Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age