Three very different (but quality) 2016 films about espionage or the military industrial complex…
Our Kind of Traitor…If you’ve ever read a John Le Carre novel (and this book is based on one of his most recent ones) then you know his spy tales will be more about slowly untangling suspense than wham-blam action set pieces. I actually didn’t like the book this is based on all that much, but this adaptation is a mostly faithful job, but it just couldn’t bring itself to keep Le Carre’s darker ending. [It adds on a very un-Le Carre-esque final scene, but credit to the other recent adaptation “A Most Wanted Man” for keeping Le Carre’s bleak ending.] Still, as a depiction of how there’s essentially becoming no difference between the Russian mafia and government, and how both are laundering their money in the West to exert influence, the film’s spycraft is solid. Damien Lewis does a good job auditioning for James Bond–nice to see him in his regal British accent instead of forcing his mouth into too-small positions to fake an American accent–and Naomie Harris is gorgeous as one half of a British couple caught up in a Russian mobster’s quest to defect before he’s killed. [Why on Earth did the James Bond films make her Money Penny instead of a proper Bond love interest?] And it’s nice to see a film where a black woman/white man couple are allowed to have a non-tragic ending. Grade: B+/A-
Snowden…Other critics are divided on whether Stone should’ve used his trademark style in this tale of surveillance gone amok, and I can see both sides of it. On the one hand, it would’ve overwhelmed the material, but on the other hand, this is one of the only films Stone’s ever made that is a bit snoozy and unwittingly impersonal. The director could’ve just as easily been anyone else, and that’s a shame since you know this is a topic close to Stone’s heart. I’ve loved Stone’s takes on governments-gone-wrong before—“JFK” and “Nixon” are all-time masterpieces—and wish that Stone had decided to make the ultimate film of the surveillance state that seems to have swallowed us all. As for what is presented: if you think Edward Snowden is a hero, you’ll likely love this, but if you don’t, this hagiography will seem a little bit like watching Tom Brady win his 5th Super Bowl. Grade: B-
War Dogs…Another film about a different aspect of our military industrial complex: the weapons side. This looser, funnier, but no less informative film than “Snowden” actually contains better filmmaking from Todd Phillips than Oliver Stone–and I never thought I would say that. Miles Teller is solid as the lead, but Jonah Hill steals the film by showing off his dark side. His amoral arms dealer is frat boy greed taken to its natural extreme, and the infectious joy he displays playing nasty appears cathartic. [This is a more confident scumbag than his “Wolf of Wall Street” flunkie.] Grade: A-