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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 2016 38 This Week IN CINEMAS TODAY Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Ghostbusters (12A) 10:25, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 The Secret Life Of Pets (PG) 10:30, 15:55, 18:40, 20:50 Central Intelligence (12A) 10:25, 13:40, 16:10, 18:25 Now You See Me 2 (12A) 18:05, 20:55 Jason Bourne (12A) 10:15, 13:15, 15:55, 18:30, 21:10 Ice Age: Collision Course (U) 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 The Legend of Tarzan (12A) 13:30 , 16:00, 20:55 Valletta Living History (U) 10:00, 10:45, 11:30, 12:15, 13:00, 13:45, 14:30, 15:15 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 The BFG (PG) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:40 Independence Day: Resurgence (12A) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:45 Ghostbusters (12A) 14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:10, 23:40 Central Intelligence (12A) 14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:05, 23:30 Colonia (15) 14:05, 18:30, 23:00 The Legend of Tarzan (12A) 14:05, 16:30, 18:50, 21:10, 23:30 Ice Age: Collision Course (U) 14:10, 16:20, 18:25, 20:30 The Secret Life of Pets (PG) 14:15, 16:20, 18:30, 20:40 Now You See Me 2 (12A) 14:20, 18:00, 20:45, 23:25 Jason Bourne (12A) 14:25, 18:15, 20:55, 23:35 Star Trek Beyond (12A) 14:30, 18:05, 20:50, 23:30 The Conjuring 2 (15) 14:30, 17:55, 20:45, 23:30 Precious Cargo (18) 16:25, 20:55 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Star Trek Beyond (12A) 10:40, 13:15, 15:55, 18:30, 21:05 Ice Age: Collision Course (U) 11:05, 13:25, 15:45, 18:00, 20:35 The Secret Life of Pets (PG) 11:00, 13:45, 18:00 The Legend of Tarzan (12A) 15:45, 21:05 Jason Bourne (12A) 10:30, 13:05, 15:40, 18:15, 21:00 BFG (PG) 10:40, 13:15, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 Now You See Me 2 (12A) 10:20, 13:05, 15:45, 18:30, 21:15 Ghostbusters (12A) 11:00, 13:35, 16:05, 18:35, 21:05 WAR Dogs is The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) with crooked arms dealers instead of crooked stock- brokers. One film features Martin Scorsese trademarks like dramatic flash-forwards that are suddenly freeze-framed to allow for ironic, expository narration… the other is actually directed by Scorsese. Both films showcase how the capitalist system is a grotesque beast when taken to its logical conclusion of excess and total greed. And both films feature Jo- nah Hill as their primary support- ing actor. But where The Wolf of Wall Street allows no light to peek through – with Leonardo Di Cap- rio's Jordan Belfort remaining an unrepentant sleazeball through- out – War Dogs does make room for a little hand-holding, which somewhat muddies the moral waters of this otherwise engaging film from director Todd Phillips, previously known for helming the 'Hangover' trilogy. When David (Miles Teller), a dissatisfied massage therapist in Miami, meets an old school friend, Efraim (Jonah Hill) at a mutual friend's funeral, the last thing he expects is for the friendship to blossom into a life- changing turn of events. You see, in his absence from his former lo- cal community, Efraim has been keeping busy. Specifically, the tricksy, entrepreneurial soul has been looking into ways of gaming the American arms dealing sys- tem in his favour – taking advan- tage of the "clusterfuck" that was the Iraq war to carve a niche for himself as a small-time but profit- making arms dealer… all from the comfort of his own home. At first, David is content to see this scintillating – and corpulent – creature go about its devilish work, but when his wife Iz (Ana de Armas) announces that a baby is on the way, the reality of his economic situation leads him to team up with Efraim in his ever- expanding little empire. Things appear to go swimmingly at first, but when their job takes them to Afghanistan, it could also lead to a point of no return for the ambi- tious young duo. The trailer didn't promise all that much. Clearly capitalizing – pun not intended – on the success of The Wolf of Wall Street and dragging in the director of the Hangover films to 'sex up' a story about young arms dealers reveling in their moral vacuity, the promo- tional material for War Dogs sug- gested little else other than some raunchy fun at the expense of a very upsetting micro-chapter of the Iraq War, and its fallout. Thankfully, the film fares a lot better in the long stretch, even if some of its more sensational de- tails were culled from other real- life sources: namely, the trailer- friendly scene where the duo are doing their best to evade hostile forces in Fallujah, which was ac- tually taken from screenwriter Stephen Chin's own experiences. But cleaving closer to another story of young millennials making obscene amounts of cash while displaying very little ethical forti- tude, as with David Fincher's The Social Network – itself based on an openly fictionalized account of what went on between the ex- panding walls of Facebook – a lit- tle bit of license does War Dogs a world of good. Apart from the fact that David is painted in brush strokes that are too kindly – he's chastised by his wife, yes, but appears to be in pos- session of a fully-functioning con- science throughout – the charac- ter arcs are well-rounded, and the beats of the script – penned by Chin, Phillips and Jason Smilovic – are perfectly poised to deliver the story of a rise, a downfall and all the complications in between. What shines the brightest out of this concoction, however, is Todd Phillip's emergence as a direc- tor who isn't, in fact, a one-trick pony. The injection of 'frat boy' humour is probably what hooked investors, and will hook a larger audience into, the film, but Phil- lips handles the heavier material just as deftly, with a twist of ambi- guity towards the end that leaves a disquieting after-taste. A compelling real-life story to begin with, spiced with some clev- erly injected departures from the truth and told by a director keen to mature out of his comfort zone. That sweet, sweet moral vacuum ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ PEDIGREE CHUM ★ ★ ★ ★ MAN'S BEST FRIEND ★ ★ ★ DOGGED DETERMINATION ★ ★ A DOG'S LIFE ★ DOG POOP FILM By Teodor Reljic FILM: WAR DOGS (15) ★ ★ ★ ★ Trouble in paradise: Teller and Ana de Armas Hustle on target: Miles Teller and Jonah Hill excel in Todd Philip's sucker-punch of a movie