Cusack in the Tank

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As Defamer's sum-up points out, Jon Cusack's War, Inc. has gone into the tank after showing at the Tribeca Film Festival. Reviews from N.Y. Post critic Lou Lumenick, Spoutblog's Karina Longworth and the Hollywood Reporter's Frank Sheck are viewable for all to see. But HE reader Joseph Kay has something interesting to say besides.

Jon Cusack, Joan Cusack in War, Inc.

"Apologies if you've covered/couldn't care less about this, but John Cusack's War, Inc. silently crept into theaters here in Toronto this week, and I believe nowhere else," he writes. "The reason for the stealth, I'm guessing, having seen the film last night, is that it's pretty much an unmitigated disaster, messy and all-over-the-place and largely nonsensical

"But it does have a point-of-view (albeit very on-the-nose) and in a world where every third major release is seemingly about the romantic chemistry generated by the metaphor of street dancing, at least Cusack and his partners were trying to do something interesting and different.

"The big problem is they were shooting for the darkly comic impact of Dr. Strangelove, obviously an impossible target for anybody except maybe Charlie Kaufman, and also the film is very weirdly grafted onto the template for Grosse Point Blank , a strange decision which seems to have the mutual effect of hurting War, Inc. while you watch it and Grosse Point retroactively."

comment #1

Josh Massey says ...

Just from the looks of the trailer, I bet the script started as Grosse Pointe II and became an original when a studio wouldn't sign on for a sequel.

comment #2

storymark says ...

How long has this movie been in the can. I saw a trailer for it on some DVD at least a year ago, if not more.

comment #3

storymark says ...

There should be a question mark at the end of my first sentence.... (must remember to hit preview first).

Good call on the Grosse Point Blank 2 vibe. I thought (even hoped) it was that when I saw the trailer.

comment #4

erniesouchak says ...

Charlie Kaufman couldn't make anything approaching "Dr. Strangelove" if he tried, tried and tried again.

comment #5

Edward says ...

Storymark, thanks for admiting you screw up when you use this damn comment box too. Crap, I have a masters degree and still can't use correct grammer or sentence structure. Preview, what a novel idea! Proofread? Me!

comment #6

actionman says ...

Sounds like a low-rent Lord of War, which I think is one of the most underrated films of this decade.

comment #7

Richardson says ...

'Lord of War' is weird when you watch 'The Weather Man' anytime near it. I actually like both movies, but it seems like Cage forced changes on both to make his characters almost identical (albeit, they end up in different places).

comment #8

Jay T. says ...

When I first saw the trailer, about 1/2 way through I said to my wife, "they made a grosse pointe blank sequel?" -- then it wasn't. Anyway, yeah, I think I'll skip this out of fear of it ruining my love for that film, although I doubt that would actually happen (The Two Jakes doesn't make me like Chinatown any less).

comment #9

Arran says ...

I love Cusack and would rather see an ambitious mess than another dance movie. I'll be seeing it regardless of what anyone says.

And nothing can possibly hinder my love of Grosse Point Blank - still one of my top 5 movies.

comment #10

moviemaniac2002 says ...

It may be that because Bush and Cheney are
such horrifying caricatures in real life, there's
no way to effectively lampoon them...(as in
the crash-and-burn of "American Dreamz")
We're already living in a country which, for
eight miserable years, has been in the grips of
Strangelov-ian characters come to life - an imbecilic president and a coterie of lunatic war-mongers who probably consider the 4000 U.S.
deaths as 'gettin' our hair mussed a little'.

comment #11

Mr. Blood Vessel says ...

Posted by Arran at April 29, 2008 03:30 PM

It may be that because Bush and Cheney are
such horrifying caricatures in real life, there's
no way to effectively lampoon them...(as in
the crash-and-burn of "American Dreamz")
We're already living in a country which, for
eight miserable years, has been in the grips of
Strangelov-ian characters come to life - an imbecilic president and a coterie of lunatic war-mongers who probably consider the 4000 U.S.
deaths as 'gettin' our hair mussed a little'.

Bush isn't stupid, he just doesn't care.
which is much worse.

comment #12

Undercover Brother says ...

Cusack wanted to make a sequel to GPB some time ago. I remember some interview with him stating as much and that he had started writing a script. Apparently his script washed out and he rejiggered it into this mess. It sounds terrible. I too saw the preview ages ago and was wondering why it all felt like a GPB sequel, but wasn't really.

I'm equally mortified that someone invoked the dreaded name of Southland Tales as something comparable. That's more than enough to send me screaming from the room. I'd rather force my hand into a meat grinder than watch that shit again.

comment #13

val says ...

That's too bad, the trailer was interesting and I was looking forward to it.

comment #14

Richardson says ...

'Southland Tales' is the most fascinating utter and complete failure I have ever seen.

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