War Dogs

Name: War Dogs
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Crime, War
Released: August 19, 2016
Duration: 114 min
Rating: 57
Cast: Jonah Hill, Miles Teller

2016

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 41 Critics

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 229 Ratings

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7.2

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7.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 229 Ratings

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War Dogs

Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. | Release Date: August 19, 2016

Starring: Jonah Hill, Miles Teller

Summary: Two friends in their early 20s (Jonah Hill and Miles Teller) living in Miami Beach during the Iraq War exploit a little-known government initiative that allows small businesses to bid on U.S. Military contracts. Starting small, they begin raking in big money and are living the high life. But the pair gets in over their heads when they landTwo friends in their early 20s (Jonah Hill and Miles Teller) living in Miami Beach during the Iraq War exploit a little-known government initiative that allows small businesses to bid on U.S. Military contracts. Starting small, they begin raking in big money and are living the high life. But the pair gets in over their heads when they land a 300 million dollar deal to arm the Afghan Military—a deal that puts them in business with some very shady people, not the least of which turns out to be the U.S. Government.… Expand

Director: Todd Phillips

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Crime, War

Rating: R

Runtime: 114 min

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Awards & Rankings

76	#76 Most Shared Movie of 2016

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Critic Reviews

Variety - Owen Gleiberman

Aug 16, 2016

War Dogs marks a key turning point for Phillips. After all these years of yocks, it’s his first true grown-up movie, and it’s a nimble, gripping, and terrific one, with plenty of laughs, only now they’re rooted in the reality of fear, and in behavior that’s authentically scurrilous. Read full review

St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Calvin Wilson

Aug 18, 2016

Working from a screenplay that he co-wrote with Stephen Chin and Jason Smilovic, Phillips delivers a film that raises provocative questions about the economic imperatives of war while masquerading as a buddy comedy. Read full review

ScreenCrush - Matt Singer

Aug 16, 2016

Superficially, the movie looks a lot like past Phillips comedies about men behaving badly, with dirty jokes and wacky hijinks galore. But War Dogs is more critical of its protagonists’ behavior, and there’s plenty of sad commentary about the state of modern America. Read full review

USA Today - Brian Truitt

Aug 17, 2016

The film is loaded with a gripping plot and enjoyably sketchy characters but hobbled by an uneven tone that ricochets between zany comedy and serious crime thriller. Read full review

Christian Science Monitor - Peter Rainer

Aug 19, 2016

War Dogs ends up being no better than its protagonists at delivering the goods. Read full review

RogerEbert.com - Matt Zoller Seitz

Aug 17, 2016

War Dogs is a film about horrible people that refuses to own the horribleness. Read full review

Consequence of Sound - Randall Colburn

Aug 16, 2016

It’s vacuous, ugly, unfunny, and, somehow, not a satire. It might be the worst movie of the year. Read full review

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User Reviews

CorruptAU

Aug 23, 2016

Screw those who are giving this negative ratings - if you aren't a dried up, soulless pessimist this movie has something to offer you.

Lets start with what we were all nervous for, Jonah Hill - my god, does he nail this role. Humor, intelligence, and cunning all rolled into one. HeScrew those who are giving this negative ratings - if you aren't a dried up, soulless pessimist this movie has something to offer you.

Lets start with what we were all nervous for, Jonah Hill - my god, does he nail this role. Humor, intelligence, and cunning all rolled into one. He drives this movie and gives every viewer something different. I took my partner, and she also enjoyed the movie, especially his performance.

This is a rags to riches 'true story' with some humor intertwined and Jonah Hills signature 'laugh' saw me laughing aloud multiple times.

I don't want to post spoilers, and I don't want to ruin your experience - hell that is what movies are for, watching and making your own informed decision. Just don't let some of these bad reviews deter you.… Expand

3 of 7 users found this helpful34

RobBob99

Aug 26, 2016

Miler Teller and an Oscar worthy Jonah Hill are both phenomenal in War Dogs. Taking inspiration from Martin Scorsese, Todd Phillips finds a near perfect balance between gut busting laughs and tension filled drama that had me hooked from start to finish. To simply put it, I could have watchedMiler Teller and an Oscar worthy Jonah Hill are both phenomenal in War Dogs. Taking inspiration from Martin Scorsese, Todd Phillips finds a near perfect balance between gut busting laughs and tension filled drama that had me hooked from start to finish. To simply put it, I could have watched it for another hour.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

LeZee

Dec 4, 2016

War is like a business zone, anyone can start-up a business.

Ten years ago a similar film was made with Nicolas Cage in the lead called 'Lord of War'. This was based on the two youngsters who got into arm dealing, but many events were fictionalised. War is a business and these two made lotsWar is like a business zone, anyone can start-up a business.

Ten years ago a similar film was made with Nicolas Cage in the lead called 'Lord of War'. This was based on the two youngsters who got into arm dealing, but many events were fictionalised. War is a business and these two made lots of profit out of it. So it all begins when financially struggling David clueless about raising his unborn child. At a right time he meets his old friend Efraim and decides to partner with him to supply arms to the US army abroad in a small scale. But when they saw a big opportunity, they decided to give it a try. From the obstacles, they go the extra mile to achieve it. But not knowing how serious the consequences are, finally they step into a dangerous turf and from there, what follows is revealed in the remaining parts.

This is really amazing film. Obviously a slow start, but like after 10-15 minutes later it gets better and better. For these actors, this is something big and they have done it excellently. Jonah Hill was simply unbelievable. Kind of good, as well as negative, totally unpredictable character. Mile Teller was superb, he narrated the story with the opening scene, gun pointed at him, the flashback begins. While the story keeps developing, it only gets crazy and crazier. Nearly two long was never been an issue, because of the good pace, as well as for the off beast storyline.

Lately I have been seeing lots of Ana de Armas, quite a coincident to watch some many films of someone in a short time. Anyway, her role in this was small, but she was decent. From the director of 'Hangover' trilogy, I think one of his best films it is. If you like the American Dream themes like 'Pain & Gain' and 'Wolf of Wall Street' about making dollars in a fast way risking everything, you would enjoy it as well. Like those two, it was also a comedy, despite inspired by the real. One of the film posters imitates the 'Scareface', but there's a strong reason for that, so you should watch it. Definitely worth a watch, so I suggest it!

8/10… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Benkoko11

Feb 23, 2017

War Dogs plays like the less evolved companion to the Wolf of Wall Street; dramatically less bite, and the howls of laughter are few and far in between.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

whatdafrak

Aug 29, 2016

This is obviously Todd Phillips trying to make a Scorsese film, more specifically the Wolf of Wall Street, but he's no Scorsese. However, it's watchable and mildly entertaining and sadly that's a rare thing for summer cinema.

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

tjman09

Aug 23, 2016

War Dogs seems like a film with a ton of potential, because of the people involved in it, but lacks the spark to make it anything other than okay. The problem seems to be that the crew wanted to tell a true story and make the audience laugh but didn’t fully understand, given the sourceWar Dogs seems like a film with a ton of potential, because of the people involved in it, but lacks the spark to make it anything other than okay. The problem seems to be that the crew wanted to tell a true story and make the audience laugh but didn’t fully understand, given the source material, how to do that. War Dogs is intermittently funny, but relies too much on clichés, and fails to pack any kind of a punch. If you’re trying to figure out what kind of a movie this is, picture The Big Short with a slightly lesser known crew.
War Dogs did have a lot going for it, namely the talents of Miles Teller and Jonah Hill, as well as the direction of Todd Phillips (The Hangover Trilogy.) Above that the trailers for this film looked fairly funny, but note that almost all of the genuinely funny parts of the movie are contained in the trailer. That being said the film often tries to take a more dramatic approach, and fails to ever generate a hilarious moment. That being said both Miles Teller and Jonah Hill’s performances are great in this film.
While Teller and Hill are great in this film it really feels too familiar, as if you’ve seen it before. That shouldn’t be the case with a film about two men in their twenties running guns in the Iraq War. That being said it ends up making it’s characters into cliches, and tells an overdone storyline about rags to riches idiots, and betrayal of best friends. It really is a shame because, as I mentioned before, this film could’ve been very original and interesting, but ends up being like most other films of today, more recycled than anything else.
Above that the film fails, at what it ultimately wants to do, which is pack a punch. It seems self evident watching it, that the director and writers wanted to expose a scary problem in America, and at the same time generate a few laughs. In that sense it’s a lot like The Big Short, however War Dogs fails to ever do what it strives to do. Where The Big Short was informational, funny, and in the end terrifyingly honest, War Dogs is not. This movie may have a moment or two, but seems to miss it’s intended mark on both ends, in that it’s not as funny as it’d like to be nor is it as damning.
In the end War Dogs feels like more of an average film, which is disappointing because it had the potential to do everything wanted to. If you expect a great comedy, it’s not really that, if you’re expecting a great look at true and terrifying events that led to two young immature men running guns for America, it’s not really that either. War Dogs is funny, well acted, and has a story to tell, but relies on cliches, stereotypes, and doesn’t offer very much thought provoking material. This is a good film if you want a few chuckles but it doesn’t supply a ton of laughs.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

JunelKean

Jan 21, 2018

Following the footsteps of Martin Scorsese, Brian DePalma and Adam McKay, "The Hangover Trilogy" director Todd Phillips has given us the reason why Hollywood should continue in making crazy-criminal gangster pictures such as 2013's "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "American Hustle." And by theFollowing the footsteps of Martin Scorsese, Brian DePalma and Adam McKay, "The Hangover Trilogy" director Todd Phillips has given us the reason why Hollywood should continue in making crazy-criminal gangster pictures such as 2013's "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "American Hustle." And by the end of his latest movie War Dogs, he has given us the reason why we should not trust him in taking over this kind of material, despite of his famous works like "Due Date" and "The Hangover."

War Dogs starts as a promising war satire that features two gun runners, David Packouz (Teller) and Efraim Diveroli (Hill) in their misadventure: bidding on U.S. military contracts to assist with the ongoing Iraq war. But as it reaches its second act, the movie turns into a self-serious and uninteresting tale - things get a little tedious as the movie collapses within its own. Director and co-writer Phillips has failed to pull-off the tonal transition from comedic to dark. It is also a perfect example on how two charismatic actors like Teller and Hill be saddled into boring characters, in spite of Teller's compelling arc.

VERDICT: War Dogs is a dark comedy with too much of the dark, but missing in comedy.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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