War, Inc.
First Look International | Release Date: May 23, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
37
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
8
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
It's a bewildering mix of very smart and very dumb, but the cast, which also features a hilarious Joan Cusack, Ben Kingsley, Marisa Tomei, Dan Aykroyd as the Cheney-esque ex-vice president, and Hilary Duff as a Turaqistan airhead pop star, is tiptop. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Like so many satires in the Strangelove mold, this never comes close to working as a story, but its lampoon of U.S. imperialism and military privatization is so bracingly obnoxious I didn't really care. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Comes up with some decent jokes, including a talking car-based GPS system which doubles as a therapist, and a suggestive Yonica number titled "I Want to Blow You Up," but fails to surround them with a compelling story or characters who rise above the level of cliche. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Screwball, vaguely futuristic political satires are a rare hybrid, and War, Inc. is an intriguing, if flawed, example. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
This script bumps along, good ideas jostling with weak, derivative ones, and Seftel doesn't seem to know which way he wants to handle the material. Also, with Cusack playing yet another soul-fried wiseacre running on emotional autopilot, the piece doesn't have much of an engine. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Somehow, what starts as a series of cheap shots in a barrel develops into something more, thanks largely to warm, engaging performances by Cusack and Tomei. War, Inc. is both right-on and somehow off, but it gets points for trying. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The trouble with this satirical take US involvement in Iraq, penned by Mark Leyner, John Cusack and Jeremy Pikser, is that the real thing is equally absurd and only marginally less funny. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
Its comedy too often blunders into meaningless slapstick, with bombs and bloodshed replacing pratfalls and pies in the face. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A brave and ambitious but chaotic attempt at political satire. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
The ambitions and intentions of War, Inc., co-written by and starring John Cusack, are laudable, but the film is a nearly complete misfire. Read full review
40
VarietyJohn Anderson
A blackly comic take on the first totally outsourced war? We're too close to being in one right now, which makes this John Cusack vehicle too close for comfort. It's also so close to being funny you can just about taste it -- just about. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyAaron Hillis
Antiwar, anti-Bush, anti-corporate, yet neither as progressive nor half as funny as the "Harold and Kumar" sequel, War, Inc. squanders some top-tier talent (Marisa Tomei, Sir Ben Kingsley) as well as our patience. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Has TOO much happening, which befits a comedy with a lot of targets but ultimately makes the whole operation scattershot. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
All that's missing is coherence. Call it Blunderbuss Satire. Read full review
30
The New York TimesStephen Holden
War, Inc. is gonzo moviemaking with a bleeding heart. A satirical farce that wants to be "Dr. Strangelove" for the age of terrorism, it is a zany, nihilistic free-for-all that goes soft. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
War, Inc. is neither all that interesting nor all that cool. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A film that, in attempting to ridicule the Bush administration, finally just settles for being ridiculous itself. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
The overall experience is manic, juvenile, and hit-or-miss, as if the auteurs behind "Epic Movie" were trying to remake "Wag The Dog." It's too soon to laugh about Iraq, and it'll never be time to laugh about it with this kind of maladroit humor. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleReyhan Harmanci
Misfires so severely that even the clever details get obliterated in the resulting mess. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Sorry excuse for political satire. Read full review
12
New York PostLou Lumenick
The movie has two modes - very loud and extremely loud - and all of the actors are encouraged to mug their hearts out. That even includes Cusack's real-life sister Joan, normally one of the most reliable performers in the business. Read full review
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