Reviewed by maroon5gurl88 on Sun May 11, 2008

The political satire/dark comedy is a genre that just hasn’t found its footing. Directors and writers seem to have an inability to balance out the humor with the satire with the politics and it either ends up being boring as hell, confusing as hell or too quirky for its own good. “War Inc.” is the latest film of this genre that just ends up falling flat on its face showing that this type of movie still hasn’t hit a homerun.

Brand Hauser (John Cusack) is a professional hit man in a world where nations are controlled by corporations. He is sent to assassinate a political giant under the guise of being a producer for a huge trade expo in the war torn country of Turaqistan. The highlight of this expo is the wedding of pop sensation Yonica Babyyeah (Hilary Duff) to a Turaqi warlord’s son. Hauser is thrown for a loop in trying to save a journalist (Marisa Tomei), keep his cover and find the answers to some long standing mysteries.

The middle of this movie is by far the best. When the political jokes stop getting shoved down your throat and it purely comes down to the interactions between Cusack, Tomei and Duff is when the movie picks up. Sadly this doesn’t last long but it is a definite highlight. The relationship between Duff and Cusack is another high point. It is hilarious to watch how Duff throws herself at Cusack and they do have some really great, slow moments together that make the film tolerable.

Aside from those few things “War Inc” is utterly confusing overall. The first half with the political satire is just constantly shoved down your throat. You immediately know the corporation leading this whole thing is a symbol for the US, that Dan Aykroyd (in a terrible and pointless role) is supposed to be a Bush/Cheney mix and that Turaqistan is…well if you don’t know what that’s supposed to symbolize you shouldn’t even bother with this movie at all. This wouldn’t be so bad if the jokes were funny, which they aren’t. The middle slows down to go in depth on Cusack’s murdered wife and the ending is seen from a mile away. The last half of the movie just deteriorates into a series of odd events with an ambiguous ending that just left me scratching my head. Even people heavy in politics will be confused as hell with the premise, just writing the summary was work for me. The subplots involving Yonica and journalist Natalie Hegalhuzen is just pointless and unnecessarily adds to the length of the movie. The characters talk so fast and expel dialogue that is supposed to be so “smart” if you blink you’ll miss a plot point, it doesn’t help that a lot of the movie is in whispers and its hard to hear the actors in the first place. There’s also a lot of unnecessary cursing, I’m a fan of the R rating but it just seemed like overkill on the language and violence.

The acting is scattered all over the board in this. John Cusack is playing the same hit man with a conscience character he did in “Grosse Point Blank” only here it just seems like he’s bored with the movie. Marisa Tomei is playing the same smart and sassy woman she’s done in several stronger features. Joan Cusack is a high point of the movie, especially at the end when she’s freaking out although she is wasted with only a few scenes. Hilary Duff turns in a totally surprise performance as Britney Spears wannabe Yonica Babyyeah. Every time she was on screen I was into the story more. She starts out like a Britney Spears of the Middle East (yes with a terrible, stereotypical accent but hey) and has some tender moments that transcended the confusing story. I would have enjoyed more of a focus on her, aside from being a mere subplot, and hopefully this will lead to far stronger fare for her. The worst acting comes from Ben Kingsley as Walken. I have no idea who thought he should don a Southern accent but that person needs to be shot as it grates through your brain. And the person who thought there should be a fight between him and John Cusack in a motorized wheelchair is really pushing the limits of good taste.

Aside from some good acting by Duff and Joan Cusack “War Inc” is way too pretentious and confusing. I give it a 1/5.