War, Inc.

Heart Rate: YYYY

Well, you all know that I love John Cusack.

So I had to see this, seeing as he starred in it, co-wrote it and produced it.

He's just so damned cute. and it was pretty funny, too.

War, Inc. is a political satire, Brand Hauser (Cusack)--don't you love his name?--walks onto the scene to the tune of a whistlin' Western song, strolls through town and makes his way to the local Greenland saloon.

He sits at the bar, orders a shot glass, fills it with triple-A grade hot sauce, slams it down, then shoots a bullet hole into the side of a German's head, taking down a row of Germans like a bunch of dominoes.

So the movie opens and we see Cusack reprising his role of a disenfranchised assassin.
The opening credits warn us of what is coming, the rebuilding of a mythical country, Turaquistan, destroyed by a war funded by a corporation, now to be rebuilt by that same corporation.

Hauser is hired to kill the soon-to-be president of the newly rebuilt company. His cover? Oversee the company's opening ceremony to introduce their new brand of freedom.

But plans quickly fall awry when Brand, while being chaperoned by his colleague in crime Marsha Dillon (played by the ubiquitous and always funny Joan Cusack), spots the lovely reporter Natalie Hegalhuzen (played by Marisa Tomei) and Yonica Babyyeah (played by Hilary Duff) spots him.

Funny, clever and ridiculous, some of my favorite bits were the relationship forged between Hauser and is OnStar guide (played by Montel Williams), Hauser's explanation for why he drinks tobasco sauce and Hauser's final conversation with Turaquistan's would-be president Omar Sharif.

Marisa Tomei is always delightful. Hilary Duff does a passible and even entertaining take on a Middle Eastern version of Britney Spears -- her performance of "Blow Me Up" is nothing short of explosive. Ben Kingsley and Dan Aykroyd have small, entertaining but important roles.

A little emerald in the sea of movies.



Best quote:
Did you know that the word "person" comes from the Latin word "persona", which means mask? So maybe being human means we invite spectators to ponder what lies behind. Each of us will be composed of a variety of masks, and if we can see behind the mask, we would get a burst of clarity. And if that flame was bright enough, that's when we fall in love. What's your opinion on these divine matters?

City Hall - Al Pacino, John Cusack (1996)

HEART RATE: YYYY

Perusing the list of John Cusack's films today, I spotted one that I had not seen: City Hall.

Made 12 years ago, Cusack looks so young. But, hey, didn't we all?

He plays a deputy mayor to Mayor of New York, played with resounding aplomb by none other than Al Pacino.

Geemenee Christmas, that Al Pacino can ACT! But I'll get to that in a minute . . .

A man walks his 6-year old son to school. As they cross the street a snitch hooks up a detective with a low-life drug pusher. Guns start firing, the pusher and the detective go down and in the midst of the exchange, the little boy is killed.

City Hall is notified and Kevin Calhoun (Cusack), who manages Mayor John Pappas, steps in to clean things up for the mayor and begins to uncover a complicated series of graft.

But back to Al. He decides, against advisement, to speak at the young boy's funeral. Facing an angry crowd of constituents who want to know why he's not cleaning up the city, Pacino literally turns the crowd around with a mesmerizing performance of a speech.

A good movie, I have to confess that Cusack's attempts at a Louisiana accent fails dismally. But he's still adorable and still convincing in the role.

The movie also stars Bridget Fonda, Danny Aiello, Martin Landau.