A very heavy handed treatment of guns, government, war and arms deals in general but I guess its not the kind of topic that can be treated lightly. Nicolas Cage plays Yuri Orlov, a gun runner who starts out, with his little brother along for the ride, supplying guns during the Cold War and then when that market taps out (dratted peace talks) he turns his attention to Africa. Somewhere in the mix is also Ethan Hawke who plays cop Jack Valentine intent on catching him but as he just can’t make himself bend the rules is never able to do so. As a result the only thing stopping Cage in the end is his conscience .. and by the time this happens you can’t help not caring what happens to him.

I walked out of the movie feeling very morose (?) but also feeling blessed at how my life is so seemingly insulated from a lot of horror portrayed in the movie. But its comments like writer and director Andrew Niccol’s “I had to get hold of a tank for a scene and 3000 Kalashnikovs. I bought real Kalashnikovs because it was cheaper than getting fake ones” that really saddens me.

Not surprisingly no US studio would back this film.

Quote of the movie: [Yuri Orlov] “Back then, I didn’t sell to Osama Bin Laden. Not because of moral reasons, but because he was always bouncing checks.”