Marisa Tomei Movie:

		List Price: $34.98		Label: First Look Studios Salesrank: 16412 Released: October 14, 2008
		Our Price: $10.99
		Used Price: $10.50
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
Recreating his role as a hitman, John Cusack gives a hilarious performance in War, Inc., a political satire set in Turaqistan, a Country occupied by an American private corporation run by a former U.S. Vice President (Dan Aykroyd). In an effort to monopolize the opportunities the war-torn nation offers, the corporation's CEO hires Hauser (Cusack) to kill a Middle Eastern oil minister. Now, struggling with his own growing demons, the assassin must pose as the corporation s Trade Show Producer in order to pull off this latest hit, while maintaining his cover by organizing the high-profile wedding of Yonica Babyyeah (Hilary Duff), an outrageous Central Asian pop star, and keeping a sexy left-wing reporter (Marisa Tomei) in check.

Description of War, Inc. [Blu-ray]:
A wobbly mix of violence and sentiment, War, Inc. takes up where Grosse Pointe Blank left off. A conscience-stricken killer in the previous film, producer/co-writer Cusack now plays an international assassin. In Joshua Seftel's political satire, corporations operate like governments. In the volatile nation of Turaqistan, Cusack's hot sauce-addicted Brand Hauser sets his sights on Omar Sharif--the oil baron, not the actor (it's never clear why this is meant to be funny). As a cover, Hauser passes as the producer for an economic trade show with fellow operative Marsha (Joan Cusack) acting as his assistant. Trained by Southern smoothie Walken (Ben Kingsley) in his CIA days (depicted though flashbacks), Hauser now takes orders from an oily CEO (Grosse Pointe co-star Dan Aykroyd). Offing Sharif, however, turns out to be harder than expected. Hauser's obstacles include left-wing journalist Natalie Hegalhuzen (Marisa Tomei) and foul-mouthed pop tart Yonica Babyyeah (Hilary Duff, erasing innocent images of Lizzy McGuire). Cusack and his crew come up with a few clever ideas, but too many crass gags blunt their thesis about military contractors run amok. Pitched somewhere between Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove and Mike Judge’s Idiocracy, War, Inc. registers as more of a miss than a hit. On the plus side, Cusack and Tomei have a snappy rapport; it's the more over-the-top performers who look out of place, especially Ms. Cusack and Kingsley, though the latter's deft turn as a boozy hit man in the overlooked You Kill Me almost makes up for this misfire. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

War, Inc. [Blu-ray] Reviews:
This is NOT an action adventure movie, it's satire...
2009-11-30 - If you want an action adventure, keep on looking, this is NOT what "War, Inc." is all about.

If you are after action and all you want is some escapist entertainment you will not like this film, I can almost guarantee it! If, however, you are intruiged (i.e., confused and stymied) by Bush-era American international relations (or lack thereof), and geopolitical maneuvering, then you may like this show.

John Cusack plays a disaffected hit-man who is forced to go to a central Asian country that has been invaded by a corporate army. The war is billed as the first corporate military invasion in history. All troops, armor, weapons, etc., are corporate owned AND operated. Cusack poses as the organizer and promoter of a huge trade show that will take place in "The Emerald City" (i.e., Green zone) in the middle of a raging war. His main purpose in being there though is to kill the president of a neighboring country so that the corporation can expand its conquest of the region.

The cast is really quite amazing - John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Marisa Tomei, Dan Ackroyd, Ben Kingsley, and more!

When I started watching this film the first time I thought it would end up being just an action adventure/comedy, but as the film went on it started to realize that it's not just satire, but HEAVY-DUTY satire! In places it's downright hilarious if you know what to look for. Don't get me wrong...this is NOT a comedy, it's satire. And, being satirical it is sometimes sad, sometimes funny, and consistently confusing (after all, what is more confusing than Bush's approach to international relations?).

The more I think about it the more I want to award it 5 stars for insightful and clever satirical genius, but some weaknesses keepit from being a 5-star offering.

Well, I liked it! (This review is based on a content-edited version of the film.)

Action is continuous but I was bored throughout
2009-11-29 - This 2008 film is a try at political satire that fails miserably. The premise is that an American Corporation runs the world. John Cusack is cast in the role of an assassin who follows the orders of his boss, an American ex-vice president played by Dan Aykroyd. After an opening scene which shows Cusack murdering three men in an Alaska bar, he is sent on his next mission, which is to assassinate a Middle Eastern oil minister. The country is a stereotype and there is never a dull moment because there are explosions everywhere. Hillary Duff is cast as a local superstar, Marisa Tomei is cast as an American reporter fighting for justice, and Ben Kingsley is one of the bad guys. Action is continuous but I just didn't care. And in spite of good performances by the cast I was bored throughout. Frankly I hated the film. It gets absolutely no recommendation from me whatsoever.

Disappointing blu-ray
2009-11-20 - This is a mediocre looking blu-ray. It appears to be somewhere between 720p and 1080i. It was also formated from widescreen (2.35:1 aspect ratio) to fit TVs with dimensions of 16x9 (1.77:1 aspect ratio). Disappointing.

Strong start, strong characters, but riddled with comedic holes.
2009-11-09 - Outsourcing wars, killing people that want to kill you, using charity as cover, and teaching yourself how hot sauce can become a tool of the trade are all things that the movie brings to the table. It is a sppof and has a spoof feel, and some of the movie really is funny. Conversations held with your navigation device to discuss your problems is a good example of that, because some of the things that it says are truly funny material. Other things also rear their heads and get good laughs as well, and the first half of the movie would have been a five-star beast if it would have kept up its pace. It didn't do that, though, and instead became convoluted and a bit on the boring side. By the end of the movie I was just ready for the thing to end, and i really didn't expect that. I say that because of the main person involved is someone i like, and he had his hands in the project fromt he beginning. Still, it does have some moments in it and they are really good moments, so I didn't find myself totally hating the movie.

One of the things I did dislike was the way Hilary Duff's character was portrayed. This isn't meant as a knock on her acting skills, but is instead meant to address the issues of the character itself. She goes from an accented star to a person with hidden feelings that sounds like Duff, and that didn't play out well. Neither did the forced love connection that enters the fray, or the overall connection between the past and the present. Looking at the scenes that some of this happens in makes me think that they should have been funny and, if executed properly, they would have been great. They were not played out well, however, and the mixture of many things makes the over-the-top violene seem like it wants to be something like Shoot-em-up but without all the wonderful little things that made that movie funny.

One pro in the movie was the acting of John C., however, but I expected that. I liked what he did with his character and i liked the subtle things that came out when he interacted with other people. I even bought into his killer instincts when they were displayed, and how they made him look like a man that was an artist when it came to killing. As I said before, i simply could not find my footing in the storyline and it diminished the character's capacity to make me laugh, ruining some rather good moments. If John C. was less talented at taking roles and bending them to his will, i would have found the movie even less desirable than I did.

Some people do like this movie a lot and i respect that, too. I want people to know that as well, thinking they should perhaps read why they thought the movie was a good one and measure those pros and cons. As i pointed out in my review, I liked the start of this beast and I thought that it had quite a few moments that really took the proverbial cake. I just couldn't eat a whole slice because it seemed undercooked and, as everyone knows, uncooing things can poison even the most healthy of persons.
Not my cup of tea - or hot sauce, if you prefer.

Blu-ray cheaper than the DVD
2009-10-31 - At the time of this review, the BD at 10.49 is substantially lower than the DVD price. Bargain hunters take note. The picture quality and audio quality is passable for a BD, but definitely better than dvd quality. It is also widescreen.

The Arctic town scene makes it look like a serious spy movie was going to erupt. The comedic music should have alerted me.

This BD should be kept away from the hands of children as their heroine Hillary Duff is spouting profanity continuously and staying in sexy poses. The antithesis of Lizzie McGuire. Hillary Duff walks a fine line between mocking a culture and mocking a religion. No fatwas have been issued against Duff, so we are good. Hillary Duff sings a few ditties in this movie.

Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar (Burn Notice TV series) would have made a better job of deadpan comedy. Physical slap-stick comedy is not necessary for this sort of satire.

My American friends find this movie difficult to swallow, because they see in this movie their tax dollars wasted in Turaquistan, which has all the letters of I-R-A-Q in it.

The rest of the world might find this satire spot on and cutting too close to the bone. Whatever your political views are, this BD is worth the price.