War Dogs, starring Jonah Hill and Miles Teller, opens this weekend in theaters and the cast sat down to discuss their roles in bringing this “unimaginable” story to life. The film tells the true tale of two arms dealers named Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz who won a $300 million government contract to deliver arms during the Iraq War to the U.S. Troops.
The movie is based on a Rolling Stone article titled “Arms and the Dudes” by Guy Lawson, and is mainly what attracted Hill and Teller to the film.
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Jonah Hill told CNN, “The story itself really is just crazy.” He continued, “The idea that this actually happened, you would not believe it if it didn’t actually go down.”
Hill also discussed the depths of his character, Diveroli, and claims that he was more intrigued with the role the more that he studied him. “He’s so manipulative and shady and kind of evil,” he stated. “But he’s able to pull all of that stuff off because he’s charismatic and able to win people over, so it’s this really tricky kind of balance.”
War Dogs was directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover), and he felt that the film was more of a commentary on the state of the government than on the two main characters. Phillips stated, “The fact that these two kids who had a small office in Miami landed this deal with the Pentagon — it made you realize that the vetting process, the system of checks and balances in the government is not necessarily all there.”
Phillips continued stating that, “In a weird way the movie’s really an indictment on the government and their process…these guys end up paying the price for it.”
ComicBook.com’s Original Content Director Kofi Outlaw had positive things to say about the film as well. In his review here, he cited Phillips’ new directing rhythm for War Dogs:
On the directorial front, War Dogs is the most ambitious and accomplished directorial effort Phillips has shown. It employs every technique and stylistic flare he’s perfected in the last ten years of directing some great cinematic comedies (The Hangover, Old School), and marries them to some new techniques that could arguably stand toe-to-toe with big directors like Michael Bay or Ridley Scott.
Do you plan on seeing War Dogs in theaters this weekend?
[H/T CNN]
