:
Kalin Kerlin,
Evgeni Genov,
Krasimir Simeonov,
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:
Joshua Seftel,
Joshua Seftel
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: 
: First Look Pictures
: Action, Comedies, Drama, Suspense/Thriller, Black Comedy, Political Satire, Adventure, War, Iraq
: 107 min.
: English
: Spanish
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An assassin posing as a trade-show producer fixes his crosshairs on a Middle Eastern oil minister while maintaining his cover by organizing a high-profile wedding in this satirical action comedy starring John Cusack, Hilary Duff, and Marisa Tomei. A private American corporation run by a former U.S. vice president (Dan Aykroyd) is occupying the war-torn nation of Turaqistan, but a powerful Middle Eastern oil minister is preventing them from taking total advantage of the situation. In order to gain a monopoly on the lucrative opportunities that Turaqistan has to offer, the CEO of the corporation hires an evenhanded hitman named Hauser (Cusack) to take the oil minister out of the picture. Now, in order to carry out the contract without a hitch, Hauser will pose as the corporation's trade-show producer. The stakes are high and the potential for disaster is evident, though if Hauser can successfully organize the wedding of Central Asian pop-star Yonica Babyyeah (Duff), he's got a good chance of pulling it off. But sexy and resourceful left-wing reporter Natalie Hegalhuzen (Tomei) is determined to uncover the truth about what's happening in Turaqistan, and the moment she does, this carefully constructed scheme will crumble like a house of cards. Joshua Seftel directs a screenplay co-written by Mark Leyner, Jeremy Pikser, and producer/star John Cusack. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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| Military industrial comedy
by mkaliher2
April 10, 2011 - 2:55 AM PDT
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On first viewing, this update of Doctor Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb seemed disjointed and disorienting. But the second time around, Dan Aykroyd's sight gags as a character quite similar to Dick "F**k off" Cheney, recently retired vice president and chairman of a Halliburton-like death empire seemed more amusing. Then there's the Islamic bimbo pop star, played by Hilary Duff, who's really quite good, and her idiot Islamic hip-hop wannabe boyfriend who is so lame he manages to shoot himself in the butt . . .
But, really, I think the director was trying to deal with a serious subject -- the idea that we're killing off or turning into terrorists half the population we're trying to convert to democracy; bombing Libya, rather than Syria, our good buddy -- who actually trained the terrorists who bombed the G.I. disco in Germany; and decimating Iraq -- when fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 terrorists came from Saudi Arabia, our good buddy -- rather than seeking retribution from those actually responsible or, better yet, pursuing peace and truly democratic ideals.
But it was brave attempt on Hollywood's part, and -- I'm very sorry to say -- probably the best we can hope for. As Neil Postman wrote back in the 1980s, we're amusing ourselves to death -- and, I might add, the deaths of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of other innocents since the end of World War II. In any case, it was great to see Marisa Tomei, and John C. and his clever sister Joan working together, after their outstanding performances in High Fidelity. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.39)
23 Votes
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