The film “War Dogs” is a crime comedy by Todd Phillips that was screened in 2016. The movie is based on real events of two young businessmen named David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who gain profits out of an obscure military contracting program, offering small businesses an opportunity to dangle their bids. Entered the field of arms dealing, the two protagonists were riding their highest of joyful moments of affluence intertwined with risk and moral dilemma.
War Dogs Over View
The plot consists of two guys, who are David Packouz, a budding masseuse professional, and Efraim Diveroli, their old horror-stricken childhood buddy. For David, finding out that his girlfriend is pregnant and not able to support herself makes it hard for him to bear. This by itself leads him to work together with Efraim in the situationally questionable trade. Partnering, they sure a $300 million contract arranged and approved by the Pentagon which weapons to the Afghan security arm will be provided. Overtime, they realize that their defiance is getting them deeper into an intricate web where lies, betrayal, and international conspiracy lurks.
Primary Characters and their functions.
• David Packouz: An inexperienced young man trying to defend his family and make a living at a very high price for the weapons he deals with.
• Efraim Diveroli: David’s friend, a likable but ethically unsettled man, who was the first person to drag him into this underworld of black market arms trade.
• Henry Girard: He is a global black market arms dealer who becomes their vast and ruthless enemy.
Themes Explored in “War Dogs”
War Dogs tells a story of a net of the puzzle of themes which cover the deep side of the desire to succeed and the damage expectable when crossing the line from legal to the opportunity. Here’s a breakdown of some key themes:Here’s a breakdown of some key themes:
• The Allure and Peril of Ambition: David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, even though they are different, they have this endless purpose and burning for the achievement. It is bold individuals who take advantage of that void in the system and kick-start their entrepreneur paths with money awards from new-found businesses. The main point of the movie is to express what happens to the people who get ahead at any cost. At the onset, the excitement of the scam boosts their confidence, but as it grows, the risks become great, and the joy is transferred to anxiety and fear.
• The Morality of Exploiting Loopholes: War dogs bring into question what may be regarded as unethical in taking advantage of technicalities a legal system provides. David believes in fair play while Efraim does it according to the rules they set, but the situation is more complicated as it affects many people. The movie gives us the moral dilemma of forfeiting a dream, because taking things that do not rightfully belong to us is not right. However, it says so much about the role as society in fixing the system that it has failures.
• Friendship and Betrayal: David and Efraim’s bond has more significance than any other of the film’s element. They use their abilities and daring attitude in order to face the tests of going through a new planet. On the other hand, the relationship brakes as their lives become more complicated though. Through this film, one may see the inner conflict facing the soldiers in the context of a highly constrained and rapidly changing environment. It revolves around the significance of allegiance and how one can never truly tell who can be trusted in such delicate scenario.
• The American Dream Obsession: The film points out that there are places where people have a distorted concept of the American Dream-they believe that success means wealth and luxury only. instead of accumulating wealth, David and Efraim travel a dangerous path where they discard their principles of ethics and their lives also become in jeopardy.
• The Cost of War (Indirectly): If war machinery is not crux, the film mention fatalities of those involved in conflict nevertheless. It sparked glimpses of images and reports during our countries news updates, lives took the worst turns in the hotspots, with the guns finding their way in. With this childhood memory of being drenched, he was slowly driven to realize the ultimate outcomes the afts David and Efraim sell.
• The Dark Side of Capitalism: War Dogs confronts with underhand of capitalism with its certain portion. It demonstrate a situation where money go before morality and power and corruption works as means for the achievement of success. The film tells against this ruthless sat up to a churn a profit.
What the director manages to do by merging these themes in the film is allowing the viewers to challenge their own ideas about the success as the only result of ambition and the most desirable reward for work since their true meaning lacks the consideration of the consequences.
Exploring Movies Like War Dogs
1. Lord of War (2005):
Especially for those, who have not idea of the history of international arms trade, Lord of War with Nicolas Cage is a must-watch movie on this subject. In this movie, Cage portrays Yuri Orlov, who is a snappy and arrogant arms dealer, sink his teeth into the topsy-turvy world in which good guys and bad guys all come in shades of grey. Unlike David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli in War Dogs who dived strictly for financial benefits, Orlov has been the limiting form in a much bigger game. Through this movie, we see the mass scale at which the war industry has been thriving and the enormous costs paid by innocent lives, which War Dogs cleverly avoids. Thereis the hoarding of weapons by warlords, child soldiers are made to fight, and the long-reaching ofspillovereffects of trade in arms past the deal that may turn out to be a once in a lifetime opportunity.
2. American Made (2017):
It is time to live the adventures of Tom Cruise in a fast ‘n furious real-life carnival ride, American Made. He becomes both the driver (literally and figuratively) and passenger himself as Barry Seal, a pilot who does some undercover work (or moonlightings) for CIA smuggling drugs around the 1980s. It’s, sort of an amazing adventure that replicates War Dogs` spectacular moves and tricks but with the added complexity of Cold War politics and constant fear of being exposed. Undergo gunfights in jungles, dig into shrouded wastelands in haywire alleys, and quite a lot of security leaks substantiated as airplanes filled with smuggled cargo. A prominent feature of American Made is a jocular tone that helps you stay on the edge of your seat with a burning question, “when luck fails Seal”.
3. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013):
Must balance playing the character again with Todd Phillips, after a month of staying with another 2 outerragesome stories, but there is John Hill beside me. The reckless and immoral life of Jordan Belfort – the main character in ‘Wolf of Wall street’ – is displayed in this movie. He represents the stockbroker who adopts fraud and luxury as essential ingredients to his wealth. Like the actual War Dogs it is, but with the volume turned up to the max. This is a very little cautionary story. Think of extravagant parties in huge houses, doubtful financial practices involving pump-and-bump schemes, and the hero who, in tune with his personal goal, is losing the track exponentially. In the Wolf of Wall Street and Andy Weissman’s The Hustle, you get two different approaches: fictional Hollywood enthusiastic portrayal vs. balanced realistic presenting of the hustle. Here, human characters are created with greed becoming rather obscure so that a distinction between what the “American Dream” has truly cost can be raised.
4. Catch Me If You Can (2002):
On the other hand, as an accomplished performer, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a lead role as a real fraudster of his name, Frank Abagnale Jr., stealing the show in the movie Catch Me If You Can. Be prepared to see his breathtaking impudence that lied on his shoulder as a pilot, doctor, and lawyer before even 21. The breathtaking emotional roller coaster of this life-and-death cat and mouse chase between Abagnale and Herran, the FBI agent Carl Hanratty, (Tom Hanks) denotes the power and elegance of psychological and intellectual games. The movie gives you a taste for what an audacity and cunning display is all about, which seem to be the middle name of David Packouz, but with aspiring to really pull of a con instead if using loophole to make money. Unlike the War Dogs in which the protagonists work in the grey area of crime legality, Abagnale straight folds counterfeit passports and cashes in checks bearing no resemblance to the companies behind them. The film captures the excitement of a congame and anintellectual fight between a clever conman and a determined sleuth.
5. The Big Short (2015):
This oscillating picture is Oscar winner but it is a comedy and somewhat serious as well that deals with the financial crisis of 2008. It is a complex story, but the filmmaker gives it an interesting plot-line that involves a well-known cast (Christian Bale, Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling). Nonetheless, it exposes the dark side of corporate greed: one theme which takes the film a notch higher, and is amplified by the realistic picture of War Dogs where they exploit a US government program. While The Big Short does offers an overview of the bigger picture, it is the film’s plot and characters which truly bring the events to life. We get the scenes of group of unorthodox/”out of the norm” investors, who just like that, get to make a profit from something as bad as a housing market collapse. This movie introduces public sit auts dangers of complicated financial systems and the bankrupt soul resting behind the Great Depression’s cause. On the contrary, it, War Dogs, introduces an intriguing side of the story; the consequences of accumulating wealth are more direct and individual for characters.
6 Blow (2001):
This biopic tells us a story of George Jung’s life (Johnny Depp) in a chronological order, starting in his childhood when he was a minor marijuana dealer, and going through the 1970s, when he became a major cocaine smuggler on the US East Coast. This is a story of the dark side of drug trade while War Dogs is glamourizing the armed world. Amorants of drugs will get seduced by this power, they will lie and trap others in order to get their wealth. Pow shows the dangers young people are lured into- money, and easy drugs. However, like in every great tale, this one is not only about fairy-tale love but also about confronting the real bloodshed and the consequences of the decisions that Jung might make. It suggests that the use of excess anger can lead to dangerous situation that might happen both in personal relationship and job.
7. Pain & Gain (2013)
None of the Three has to explain what the true story is. For Mark Wahlberg who played shudder, and the rock who played Jackie are the main acts in this film. Pop the seat belt, here is a satiric take on the extreme measures a person will take when clamoring for the American dream which, sadly, gets twisted in a funny and offbeat way. After all, the two films feature drastically different subjects in that the ideology of War Dogs rests on ambition within a system susceptible of abuses and the ethical standards of Pain & Gain remain outside the system. The crazy guys in this feature are as ambitious as David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, though their means and follies are ludicrous. Distorted Funhouse Mirror Reflection (Pain & Gain) can be seen as an analogous to the weirdest paths which are taken in pursuit of a certain results (War Dogs), like the instance where the ‘real’ protagonists see themselves in the mirror and they do not find themselves trusting their reflections.
8. Goodfellas (1990):
It was a powerful movie of Martin Scorsese which showed all the brutality and uncensoredness of a life of Henry Hill (Ralph Liotta). It’s the brutal and vicious world of the criminal enterprises that we come face to face and also it is much different from the fantasy about high-class life as that portrayed by War Dogs initially. Goodfellas takes us into the machinations of an organized crime hierarchy, the entrenchment & brutality that keeps the crew bound, and finally the journey of life of the criminals who are embarked on. Unlike the Goodfellas that gradually creates the depressing effect of crime that comes with the life which is based on criminal activity, War Dogs does not show enough of the adventures of drug trafficking and the dangers that come with the actual drug business. It functions as a lesson that enables us to weigh the serious implications of unregistered activities and realize that there are consequences for every action.
9. Boiler Room (2000):
In this film, the high-stress environment of tradesmen, and a young stockbroker (Giovanni Ribisi), who is eventually pulled into a penny stock scam are portrayed. It reveals a dangerous determinant of chasing wealth and the way how people are gulled through these practices that are renowned respectively in War Dogs’ depiction concerning manipulation of the governmental program. Boiler Room highlights the charisma of being in the front of the room and the misconception that can arise when you make swift money. Even though Packouz and Diveroli thought that they were just complying with a technical loophole in the system, the stockbrokers of the Boiler Room do no better – in fact, they are deliberately doing this. This movie, therefore, takes us to realize that the line between ambition and ethical violation can easily be erased due to the strain in the ethical norms amongst the successful leaders.
10. Scarface (1983):
Al Pacino captivates audiences with his iconic portrayal of Tony Montana –a Cuban refugee who seized command in the drug business in Miami. It is an operatic, violent version of the story of pursuing a goal and the defateful consequences. This theme is like a beacon that shines powerfully in the movie, an alert to the dangers of pursuing a goal without boundaries. Warning is intended in the film Scarface. It is the warning book in the form of gigantic portrayal. From a ruthless and greedy beginning to the end, Tony Montana does everything just to get to the top. The only thing that counts is money and it is the twisted acceptable conception of the American Dream. The movie however does not make the artificial life of his lifestyle shy from portraying the excesses, the constant paranoia on the overall of the kingdom, the man downfall that consumes those who choose power and wealth above the fortunes that others live for as a result of their inability to build a lasting nation at the expense of the long term needs of the nation and the lives of common citizens. It contrasts with the earlier staunchness and bravado of him and Efraim Diveroli thus reminding us of the sad ends that chase after purse.