Last weekend, I got to see Lord of War. My wife is a big Nicolas Cage fan, and I was intrigued to see what the film was like, so off we went. The film isn't bad. It's imaginatively directed, with some excellent camera work, and effects shots (the "life of a bullet" sequence during the opening titles is very clever, even if it does use some iffy cgi which comes off looking a little too "Toy Story + Bullets") and the performances, on the whole, are good. Cage does what he does best; playing the confident, cool risk-taker with a fast mouth and a talent for getting into, and out of, trouble. Ethan Hawke makes an appearance as Jack Valentine – a government agent with an unfeasibly hard name, who's intent on putting an end to Cage's gun running exploits, but gets precious little to do. Similarly, Bridget Moynahan and Jared Leto, as Cage's wife, and brother, don't really get a great deal to do either. The film claims to be based on actual events, with Cage's character (Yuri Orlov) supposedly a composite of five real arms dealers. It tries to be the "Goodfellas" of arms dealing, but doesn't really succeed. Given that Cage so easily overshadows his co-stars, it's difficult to feel terribly involved with anyone other than Yuri himself. Plus, the runtime is a little too high (although it's only just over two hours, maybe the pacing could be better), and there are occasions where the film feels a little too "clean". After the graphic scenes in A History of Violence, you would expect a film with an apparent anti-gun message to demonstrate the horrific consequences a little more. Overall, I'd say Lord of War is worth seeing, but I wouldn't rush to the cinema. Tomorrow, I'm going to see Domino. My expectations are low, frankly, but we shall see.