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By Cole Smithey

‘War, Inc.’

Movie Trailer

The would-be comic lampoonery, about a time when all wars are outsourced, mirrors the realities of America’s corporate-enabled occupation of Iraq. John Cusack plays Hauser, a disaffected hit man sent by a former U.S. Vice President-turned-corporate-shill (Dan Aykroyd) to the fictional country of Turaqistan to assassinate an oil magnate known as Omar Sharif. Hauser’s cover as the organizer of a U.S. trade show that features state-of-the-art prosthetics, is just enough of a distraction from his actual purpose to seduce a lefty journalist named Natalie Hegalhuzen (Marisa Tomei). Hilary Duff injects the movie with a spunky pitch as Middle East pop star Yonica Babyyeah, who develops a crush on Hauser in spite of her pending wedding to her bodyguard. There are some inspired touches of humor, as when Hauser knocks back shots of straight hot sauce before springing into action, or when he shoves a former boss into a garbage truck, but the comedy never gels.

A recent New York Times article revealed that without the continued support of Blackwater Worldwide, the discredited company responsible for providing trigger-happy security to American diplomats and convoys in Iraq, America’s occupation of the country could not continue. Unlike the Cold War era when Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (1964) foretold of global annihilation at the hands of phallic-obsessed politicians, “War, Inc.” comes during a clashing era of climate change and a trademarked war for raw corporate profits. Enabled by commercial entities ranging from surveillance-complicit phone companies to gouging oil alliances, Americans are increasingly treated like host bodies ready to be sucked dry.  

This isn’t to say that “War, Inc.” couldn’t have been a funnier movie, merely that the writers (Mark Leyner, Jeremy Pikser and Cusack) had a more complicated job cut out for them. Cusack’s Hauser is just as concerned with creature comforts as any SUV-driving suburban mom is. In one of the film’s most inspired moments, a super-caffeinated whoa-yelling soldier derails Hauser’s impending public hit on Sharif in order to give the assassin his newly cleaned laundry. Hauser is glad to get his clothes, and nonplussed about missing the opportunity to fulfill his assignment. The poor soldier is stuck in a permanent state of radically elevated excitement. He’s recognizable as a walking war causality unable to ever return to civilian life regardless of any political outcome. The scene is notable for the feeling of resentment it evokes for the audience at Hauser’s ineffectiveness as a hit man. We want to see Hauser kill Sharif, for no reason other than to see the murder happen.

But after relating to Hauser’s calm at getting his laundry delivered, our focus shifts to similar ideas of material comfort and we accept him for being easily sated like us. The problem with “War, Inc.” is that commerce, fear and military occupation, are already inextricably linked to the way Americans live their daily lives. There’s no longer a separation between the way American citizens are treated by cops and the way Iraqi civilians are treated by military police. No matter how dark your sense of humor, the Bush Administration’s joke has become a harsh reality. There’s no spark of humor when you’re staring into an abyss. CV

‘Speed Racer’

Movie Trailer

The Wachowski Brothers achieve a divine vision of psychedelic visual ecstasy — you won’t believe the sheer amount of color on the screen at any given time, while digging deep into a campy comic/dramatic tone that speaks to audiences of all ages. Emile Hirsch leads a flawless cast as the title character who carries the death of his car-racing brother Rex Racer (Scott Porter) as a constant inspiration to win races for his family’s racing business. Anti-corporate themes abound as the sport’s predatory company, Royalton Industries, tries to bring Speed and his family to the dark side of greed. Far-out racing sequences, ninja attacks and a budding romance between Speed and his girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) attend the trippy visual fun. Like a revved-up turbo mix of Warren Beatty’s “Dick Tracy” with “Tron,” “Speed Racer” is a blast from start to finish.

Since ending their Matrix trilogy with a whimper rather than its anticipated bang, the Wachowski Brothers have successfully turned their attention to uniting cartoon logic with live-action appeal. The pay-off is immediate and non-stop. Fans of Tatsuo Yoshida’s ’60s era Japanese anime cartoon series get plenty of positive reinforcement with key story elements, like the functional “A” through “G” buttons on the steering wheel of Speed’s car, the “Mach 5,” and his little brother Spritle’s pet monkey Chim-Chim. The filmmakers are careful to emphasize Spritle (Paulie Litt) for his humorous kid qualities of loving candy and constantly trying to prove himself as worthy of adult respect. Spritle and Chim-Chim get plenty of welcomed screen-time, and their constant slapstick shenanigans anchor the movie’s wild racing sequences from a child’s knee-high perspective of seeking fun at every opportunity.

The diabolical Royalton (Roger Allam) introduces himself to the Racer family as an effeminate pancake-loving family man who wants nothing more than to provide them with the riches they deserve. But when Royalton gets Speed alone in his office to sign a contract piled high across his desk, we learn the depth of his corporate villainy. Every raced is fixed in Royalton’s worldview. If there is a running theme smuggled into this summer’s family movies, it’s that profit for profit’s sake is to be avoided like the plague.  

“Speed Racer” balances nicely between its dastardly dangerous car race rallies and the nefarious intrigue that surrounds them. A low-fi animated introduction sequence gets us inside the mind of young Speed daydreaming in class about racing with his brother and doodling car crashes in the pages of his notebook. It’s impossible not to be transported to the joys of childhood when all that mattered was how far your imagination could take you away from the mundane realities of homework, chores and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Speed’s mom (Susan Sarandon) makes them by the tray full. If Speed is a rebel with a one-track mind, it’s an ethic of independence that he consciously inhabits with his family’s allied approval.

The movie’s greatest achievement lies in its embrace of representing a modern family entertainment in a broad yet boiled-down spectrum of soup to nuts humor, action and unbridled celebration. You can find touches of inspiration drawn from everything from the Three Stooges to Jerry Lewis comedies to the camp humor of Pee-wee Herman. The audience is encouraged to laugh at characters, with characters and at themselves for being so easily led. The Wachowskis achieve a universal postmodern style and sensibility that comes from a connection between individual ambition and familial trust combined with lots of color and speed. It’s the fastest movie ever made. CV

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