The film, which features an unreliable narrator and is labeled as being "based on a true story", is heavily fictionalized and dramatized,[9][10] with some of its events, such as the duo driving through Iraq, either invented or based on other events, such as Chin's own experiences.[11][12] Additionally, Diveroli claimed, but later dismissed, the film was falsely marketed as a true story, and stole material from his 2016 memoir Once a Gun Runner.[13][14]
Filming began on March 2, 2015, in Romania. The film premiered in New York City on August 3, 2016, and was theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 19, 2016. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $86 million worldwide.[15] Hill received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.[16]
Plot
David Packouz is a massage therapist living in Miami, Florida with his girlfriend Iz in 2005. He spends his life savings on high-quality bedsheets to resell to retirement homes, but the venture fails. David runs into his old friend Efraim Diveroli, who has formed his own company, AEY Inc., selling arms to the US government for the ongoing war in Iraq. Iz informs David she is pregnant, and Efraim offers him a job at AEY; although David and Iz vehemently oppose war, David joins AEY and lies to Iz.
Efraim explains that military equipment orders are posted on a public website, and their job is to bid for small orders ignored by larger contractors but still worth millions. Local businessman Ralph Slutzky provides them funding, under the false belief that AEY only sells arms to protect Israel. David and Efraim land a contract to provide several thousand Beretta pistols to the Iraqi Police in Baghdad, but an Italian embargo blocks the shipment, which is waylaid in Jordan. Failing to deliver the cargo as promised would mean that AEY would be blacklisted from future contracts.
The pair fly to Jordan, bribe locals to release the shipment, and receive transport into Iraq. They're driven through the night, bribing a border patrol and evading armed insurgents, arriving at a military base where Captain Santos pays them handsomely for surviving the Triangle of Death.
AEY secures larger and more lucrative deals, expanding their operation, and David's daughter Ella is born, while Efraim grows more unstable and untrustworthy. The company has a chance at "The Afghan deal", their biggest yet. The US government has posted an order for 100 million rounds of AK-47 ammunition which would net a $100 million profit. However, there is a global shortage of AK-47 ammunition. The pair encounters legendary arms dealer Henry Girard, who has access to massive unused weapon depots in Albania. NATO treaties require the Albanians to dispose of these arsenals, including over 100 million rounds of AK-47 ammunition. Unable to deal directly with the US, Girard agrees to deal with Efraim, despite David's discomfort at working with a man on a terrorist watch list.
In Albania Efraim learns they underbid their competitors by $50 million. Iz, who has discovered David's true job, leaves him to stay at her mother's. David discovers the ammunition is largely Chinese-made and thus illegal due to a US embargo so Efraim has the ammunition repackaged. Learning Henry has charged them a 400% markup, Efraim announces his plan to cut Henry out of the deal. David protests, criticizing him for having fun while David does all the work, enraging Efraim who destroys the only copy of their partnership contract.
Henry retaliates by having David kidnapped, beaten, and threatened at gunpoint. When Efraim doesn't pay Enver, the Albanian handling the repackaging, he threatens to report them to US authorities for the relabelling. David promises he'll get Efraim to pay him, and learns that his Albanian driver, Bashkim, is missing and might even have been killed.
David returns to Miami, quits AEY, and demands the money he is owed, but Efraim refuses. David returns to working as a massage therapist and convinces Iz to move back in with him, telling her the truth about AEY. Weeks later, Efraim and Ralph offer David a paltry severance package, so David threatens Efraim with evidence of his falsified company documents.
David and Efraim are arrested by the FBI after the disgruntled Enver reported them. The FBI had previously arrested Ralph, who wore a wire in an incriminating meeting with David and Efraim. Efraim is sentenced to four years in prison for conspiracy and fraud on the Afghan deal, while David pleads guilty and gets seven months house arrest for his cooperation.
Months later, Henry apologizes to David for abducting him in Albania and shares his appreciation for not being turned in to the FBI. When David asks what happened to Bashkim, the Albanian driver, Henry offers David a briefcase of money in exchange for "no more questions."
David Packouz as Hilldale Home guitar singer (uncredited)
Production
Initially, Jesse Eisenberg and Shia LaBeouf were set to star in the film;[17] however, Jonah Hill and Miles Teller were eventually cast.[18][19] Further casting was announced in early 2015, with Ana de Armas joining in February,[20] and JB Blanc joining in March.[21] Screenwriter Stephen Chin based many of the incidents on his own experiences in Iraq.[22]
Shooting was initially set to begin late April 2015, in Miami, for several weeks.[23] According to SSN Insider, filming began on March 2, 2015.[24] Later confirmed by the Business Wire on March 17, 2015, filming was underway in Romania.[25] On April 29, 2015, Hill and Teller were spotted filming on the set in Burbank, California.[8][26]
Release
Warner Bros. Pictures originally set the film for a release on March 11, 2016.[27] In November 2015, the release date was moved to August 19, 2016.[28]
Box office
War Dogs grossed $43 million in North America and $43.4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $86.4 million, against a budget of $40 million.[5]
In the United States and Canada, War Dogs was released on August 19, 2016, alongside Ben-Hur and Kubo and the Two Strings, and was projected to gross $12–15 million from 3,100 theaters in its opening weekend.[29] The film made $1.3 million from its Thursday night previews and $5.5 million on its first day (including previews). It went on to gross $14.3 million in its opening weekend, finishing third at the box office and first among new releases.[30]
Critical response
War Dogs received mixed reviews from critics.[31] On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 62%, based on 235 reviews with an average rating of 6.00/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "War Dogs rises on the strength of Jonah Hill's compelling performance to take a lightly entertaining look at troubling real-world events."[15] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 57 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[32] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[33]
ScreenCrush's Matt Singer said, "Superficially, the movie looks a lot like past Phillips comedies about men behaving badly, with dirty jokes and wacky hijinks galore. But War Dogs is more critical of its protagonists' behavior, and there's plenty of sad commentary about the state of modern America."[34]
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club had misgivings about the film's slant and biographical omissions, writing: "One might quibble with the way Phillips limits responsibility on the Pentagon deal by painting AEY as better businessmen than they actually were [...], while avoiding the darker sides of the story..."[35]Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film two out of four stars, stating: "War Dogs is a film about horrible people that refuses to own the horribleness."[36]
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