Lord of War

Nicolas Cage is in fine form, both on screen and in Lord of War's voice-over.

Herald rating * * *

There's no denying that Lord of War is a brave, ambitious, gutsy film about an issue that is clear evidence of a world gone mad.

But something doesn't quite gel in this blackly comedic thriller from expatriate writer-director Niccol about the international arms trade.

Yes, it's a terrible evil business, the ironies of which are illustrated from the striking opening sequence, which follows the life of a single bullet from manufacture to its young victim a continent away.

But it's a movie where its many tones don't match the overall intention, and where the family sub-plots surrounding the main character - Nicolas Cage as Yuri Orlov, small-time Brooklyn gun dealer turned international black market arms supplier - pile up unsatisfactorily.

Cage is in fine form, both on screen and in the voice-over which is an essay itself on the laws of ballistic supply and demand.

But unlike, say, Traffic's mammoth dissection of the drugs trade, or Goodfellas' study of one man's adventures in the underworld - both of which this loosely resembles - Lord of War never quite convinces about its particular world or makes you care about its otherwise despicable lead character.

It's quite a ride to be sure, as Yuri globe-hops pursued by Hawke's Interpol agent.

But Lord of War is flawed by its twin urges to tell us gun-running is a Very Bad Thing but that those who do it don't lack for job satisfaction or perks.

CAST: Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke
DIRECTOR: Andrew Niccol
RATING: R16, violence, sexual violence, offensive language
RUNNING TIME: 117 mins
SCREENING: Village, Hoyts, Berkeley cinemas