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Show ™ DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Vassal of war 'Lord of War' not innovative jJV Monday, S e p t e m b e r 19, 2005 r - - enough to rise as king of the castle "Lord of War" Lions Gate Films Inc. Written and Directed by Andrew Niccol Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan and Ian Holm Rated Rf122 minutes Opens Sept. 16, 2005 Three out offour stars ••• Aaron Allen Chronicle Writer "There are more than 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one firearm for every 12 people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other n?" Yuri Orlov (played by Nicolas Cage) is an arms dealer globetrotting from customer to customer, selling to such familiar faces as warlords, so-called freedom fighters and young children. He never handles his own merchandise and he never gets involved politically. It's all business to him. At one point, Yuri's cokeaddled brother, Vitaly (Jared Leto), asks him how he can do what he does and still look at himself in the mirror. Yuri's argument is cold and quick: Cars and cigarettes kill more people every year than his products. Should we lock up every car salesman and tobacco company for murder? Yuri is clever, charming, industrial...and reprehensible. Like the gangsters in "GoodFellas" and "The Godfather," we root for Yuri not because he's bad, but because everyone else around him is so much worse. He has an answer for everything, a knack for navigating every loophole, a slippery way of presenting reason to the unreasonable. Cage is perfect for the role—his puffy face and droopy, sad eyes are disarming, but we still get a hint of the crazed conviction, the oily gears grinding inside. Yuri is absolutely fascinating. It's kind of disappointing that he's saddled with the "I hate It when people shoot guns while I'm on my cell phone! Where's the courtesy?!" Cage and a customer usual assortment of suffering test out the goods in 'Lord of War' supporters. Bridget Moynahan, as Yuri's "Simone" and "The Termi- The final twist bites off more Leto, as Vitaly, barely has time to wipe the cocaine off wife, begs her distant husband nal" are all his brainchildren. than it can chew, dragging the his nose from movie to movie. to settle down and get a legiti- "Lord of War" is full of clever movie into muddled message moments, such as the open- territory. As the pretty younger brother, mate job, to no avail. But give Niccol some credit: There must be a support ing titles seen from a bullet's his fate is sealed. This is perhaps the best and Ethan Hawke must be damn- group for movie characters point of view. As daring as "Lord of War" only movie about arms dealing his boyish good looks. like her. Writer-director Andrew is, it doesn't stray too far from ers, and, for the most part, his Once again, he plays a noncorrupt law enforcer—this Niccol never met a high con- the "rise and fall" formula aim is dead-on. aallen@ time an Interpol agent chas- cept he didn't love—"Gat- made popular by movies like chronicleMtah.edu taca," "The Truman Show," "Goodfellas" and "Scarface." ing Yuri. 1 "Look, Jeannlne, I'm going to have to call you back-I'm about to be gutted by Dumb Donald from 'Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids/" c You would cry, too Cry_WolfY lame characters throw a rotten party !'Cry_Wolf" XJjXiOtersal Pictures Directed by Jeff Wadlow Written by Wadlow and Beau-Bauman Starring: Julian Morris, Lihdi} Booth, Jared Padalecki anxl'Jon Bon Jovi ftqtedPG-13/lOOmin. Opened Sept. 16th One out of four stars ,*. " Aaron Allen \~ ' Chronicle Writer homework never gets done at*pre£ school. Classes are ne^erX longer than five minute^.'Roommates are wild an^d; spontaneous. The entire-student body is drop- / ^ serial killer and spread the rumor all over campus. Kids in movies like this are supposed to be idiots, but these kids are especially loathsome, incapable of uttering a single interesting thing and aiming their minds at solely low pursuits. So we almost cheer when their make-believe psychokiller poofs into existence, wielding a shiny hunting knife and formidable instantmessaging skills. Let him make mincemeat out of Owen (Julian Morris), a British transfer student who's really good at the blind accusation thing. Go stab-happy dead gorgeous, and instead of sleep, students sneak out at midnight for dangerous games with loose morals...or to read poetry they don't understand. At least, that's what the movies tell us. "Cry_WoIf" punishes us for two hours with a particularly rich and callow bunch of irresponsible preppies. Their midnight game (in a chapel, no less—up yours, heavenly judges!) involves secretly picking a "wolf" that lies to the rest of the group while the others try to sniff out him or her with blind accusations. If that game weren't dumb enough, they one-up themselves when they make up a r *+;,1&; See C R Y _ W O L F Page 7 ';-'*.' '• 1 • • • ' ' ; • • ; ' „ ' fef Campus Lovin -%gi I saw you in Mrs. Butterfield's class this morning. Quiz was; hard, but your lips looked soft... Call me: 581-7041 ^ - & Let that special someone know you saw them. Advertise in our new Campus Lovin' for free. Call 581-7041 to place your ad. Freeman: "Hey look, I'm playing the mystic black sidekick again." Redford: "Aw, man, I crapped my pants again." An 'Unfinished^plot Hallstrom's meandering drama travels on a road to nowhere "An Unfinished Life" ticular and who, as Freeman's character puts it, "mourns the life he thinks he should have had." Freeman plays Einar's old buddy, Mitch Bradley, who was nearly mauled to death by a bear (Bart the Bear) nearly a year ago, and who now has to rely on Einar for help with just about everything. Throughout the course of the movie, Mitch says many wise things, sayings that are more appropriate on a refrigerator magnet than in a Hollywood Chris Bellamy screenplay. Chronicle Writer The bear, on the other hand, is still hanging around the We recognize Robert Redranch (don't ask me why) and ford as the wily old coot, with plays a very important role in leathery skin from years in the outcome of the film. the outdoors, living in soliOne day, out of the blue, comes Jean (Jennifer Lopez), Einar's estranged daughterin-law, and her daughter, Griff (Becca Gardner), the granddaughter Einar never knew he had. Jean has come back to get away from an abusive boyfriend, Gary (Damian Lewis), who, in the great tradition of hackneyed movie plots, will show up during the course of the movie looking for Jean. Einar and Jean haven't seen each other in n years because he blames her for the death of his son, Griffin, her husband, who died in a car accident. Jean was driving the car. Over the course of the movie, Einar learns a very important lesson about forgiveness and family, while we, the audience, learn an important lesson about bad symbolism. "An Unfinished Life" is full of recognizable plot points and character archetypes, but they don't all belong in the same movie. The screenplay is a dead end, the film is loaded with arbitrary dramatic moments with very little context, and the meat of the story is nowhere to be found. Ultimately, this film is a series of beginnings and endings with no middle to connect them. "Wait, wait, wait how this Is going to help my clothing and/or cbellamy@ cosmetic lines?" Lopez mulls over a career choice in 'Unfinished Life.' chromcte.utah.edu Miramax Films Directed by Lasse Hallstrom Written by Mark Spragg and Virginia Korus Spragg Starring: Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Lopez, Josh Lucas, Becca Gardner and Bart the Bear Rated PG-13/107 Minutes Opened Sept. 16,2005 Two out of four stars tude on a ranch in the mountains of Wyoming. We recognize Morgan Freeman as the wise old sidekick. We recognize Jennifer Lopez as the damsel in distress, the tough single mother who's been dealt a bad hand. These characters are familiar and accessible because we've seen these actors play them before, and we trust them. But somehow, despite the talented cast, director Lasse Hallstrom's "An Unfinished Life" somehow never finds a cohesive story amid a glut of contrived melodrama. Redford plays Einar Gilkyson, a crusty and bitter old man who mumbles his resentments to no one in par- |