“They called guys like us war dogs. Bottom feeders who make money off of war without ever stepping foot on the battlefield. It was supposed to be derogatory, but… we kind of liked it.” —  David Packouz (War Dogs)

An American Dream…

War Dogs (2016) is an American black comedy crime film directed by Todd Phillips and starring Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Ana de Armas, and Bradley Cooper — who also served as a producer. The screenplay, written by Phillips, Jason Smilovic, and Stephen Chin, is based on Guy Lawson’s 2011 Rolling Stone article “Arms and the Dudes,” later expanded into a book of the same name. The film tells the story of Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, two young arms dealers who land a $300 million U.S. Army contract to supply ammunition to the Afghan National Army. While marketed as “based on a true story,” War Dogs takes significant creative liberties, with numerous events fictionalized or dramatized for effect. Some sequences — such as the characters’ road trip through Iraq — were either wholly invented or inspired by separate experiences, including those of co-writer Stephen Chin. The film also features an unreliable narrator, further blurring the lines between fact and fiction.

Principal photography began on March 2, 2015, in Romania. War Dogs premiered in New York City on August 3, 2016, and was released theatrically by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 19, 2016. It received mixed reviews from critics but performed moderately well at the box office, earning over $86 million worldwide. Jonah Hill’s performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.

Following the film’s release, real-life arms dealer Efraim Diveroli — on whom Hill’s character is based — accused the filmmakers of falsely marketing War Dogs as a true story and of appropriating content from his 2016 memoir Once a Gun Runner. However, Diveroli later dropped his legal claims.

War Dogs is the is the Featured Film Blog of the month for July, for its theme of films and series that reshape our view of history, You can expect to read a critique of the 2016 film that looks at the real story behind War Dogs, You can also read a recommendation for the film that looks at the arms trade and the Pentagon contract involvement. There is also a review of the film that looks at Guy Lawson’s Arms and the Dudes, the basis for the film. For the interview, director Todd Phillips discusses the balance of drama and comedy in War Dogs with Off Camera with Sam Jones. There is also a Top Ten List to commemorate the film being a Featured Film Blog of the month, and for War Dogs, the topic of the list is My Top Ten Todd Phillips Movies. And finally, as a Featured Film Blog of the month, you can watch the Official Trailer for War Dogs, and then plan on renting it tonight!

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War Dogs is available now to rent on all streaming platforms…