Writer: Andrew Niccol
Composer: Antonio Pinto
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Bridget Moynahan, Jared Leto, Shake Tukhmanyan, Jean-Pierre Nshanian, Ian Holm, Donald Sutherland, Ethan Hawke, Sammi Rotibi, Eamonn Walker
More info: IMDb
Tagline: The first and most important rule of gun-running is: never get shot with your own merchandise.
Plot: An arms dealer confronts the morality of his work as he is being chased by an Interpol agent.
My rating:8/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
I just watched it for the first time since its theatrical run ten years ago and it's still just as good. Cage is great and writer/director Niccol crafted a fine picture that details the life of one of the world's top gun runners. There are moments of tension, comedy, odd romance, action and political intrigue. It's very well paced and Cage makes for a very engaging and entertaining lead. The only thing that bugs me is the opening and closing scenes with Cage standing amidst the bullets. In the opening he takes a deliberate pause to take a drag off his cigarette and in the closing bit he takes a deliberate pause to look to the side. In both instances it's incredibly forced as if by a teenager learning the ropes in a high school play. Someday I'll have to dig into the commentary to see if that's explained. It's just damn odd that Cage pauses like that as if to hit certain beats with his monologue to the audience. The Lionsgate 2-Disc Special Edition DVD has a bunch of extras. Besides a commentary by Niccol, a making of featurette (20 minutes), a featurette on arms dealing (15 minutes), 7 deleted scenes and 6 non-anamorphic widescreen trailers (many of which viewers of this film won't be interested in).
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