War On Everyone - directed by John Michael McDonagh
Occasionally you hear that a movie is 'crowd pleasing' but it's really a meaningless phrase taken in isolation.
As often as I have heard it used as a compliment I have heard it used as a put down or at best a back-handed compliment.
Well as it happens it is the perfect phrase to describe "War On Everyone".
This is indeed a crowd pleasing good time and I write that without a trace of condescension and as a genuine compliment - not even slightly back-handed.
This is one of the best times I have had at the cinema lately and it deserves a much better theatrical run than that which it is apparently getting.
At the time of writing this film is showing at three independent cinemas and on one screen at one of the multiplex chains (in these parts at least).
I have seen the trailer played exactly zero times.
"War On Everyone" has a title that says absolutely nothing about the movie and a poster that doesn't do much to help in that area either.
It has a very low chance of being seen by many people at all then which is disappointing.
I suppose this will add to its cult status - something that I am sure it will achieve on blu-ray and dvd.
It isn't for everyone and some will react badly to what they perceive as racism or maybe the drug use or perhaps the violence.... there is a lot that is 'offensive'.
For those who don't find offence there is a really great ride in store.
So- what is it about then.....?
Michael Pena and Alexander Skarsgard play Bob and Terry- two New Mexico cops.
To say that they are unconventional would be an understatement.
We first see them running down a fleeing mime.
Right before their car smashes into the hapless clown sending him over the car to land in a bloody heap Bob wonders if mimes make a sound when they're hit.
'Well, now you know' says Terry.
We then learn that he is not a bank robber or a murderer but that he has a stash of cocaine and the duo want it for themselves.
So they are bad cops..... maybe the worst since Harvey Keitel's "Bad Lieutenant".
The difference is that Abel Ferrara's film is not funny in the slightest and John Michael McDonagh's is.
Very funny.
But it is the sort of funny that it is that is important.
McDonagh's script references everything from Greek Mythology to Elmore Leonard to Lewis Carroll and has interesting facts about famous suicides and celebrity deaths scattered throughout.
Bob (Pena) is the educated one of the pair and provides most of these references.
He has a bet with his wife ("Spectre" actress Stephanie Stigman) over a Simone de Beauvoir quote and shortly after singing the praises of director Steven Soderbergh laments that although Jennifer Lopez takes her blouse off in "Out of Sight" you don't see anything.
He seems to know a little bit about a lot but nothing substantial about any one thing.
Terry on the other hand is pure brawn very little brain.
He has a very serious substance abuse problem as opposed to Bob's merely quite serious one.
His new ex-stripper girlfriend (The great Tess Thompson from "Creed") reads Susan Faludi and seems to have more in common with Bob (or at least his wife)
Terry meets her as part of an ongoing investigation involving Theo James' well spoken English criminal Lord James Mangan.
They have an informant named Reggie (an hilarious Malcolm Barrett) who has converted to Islam and sports an afro and seems to have escaped from a movie set forty years prior.
The editing is shares a similar 1970's sensibility and utilises line-wipes liberally.
There are references that quintessential seventies cop show "Starsky and Hutch" too.
Best of all is the use of Glen Campbell songs including a wonderfully random dance sequence between Thompson and Skarsgard to 'Rhinestone Cowboy'.
If this all sounds goofy then consider that I haven't yet mentioned the toupeed jockey harassment, dyslexic Irishman with multiple sclerosis, crotch shots, testicle kicks, transexual Icelandics, androgynous one-eyed strip club managers, Paul Reiser as a Police Captain or a host of other strange folk and events in this film.
McDonagh tosses so much into his script it feels like he is using up everything that he had left on the table after "The Guard" and "Calvary".
In fact there is far too much to take in on one viewing I would think.
The lines come thick and fast.
Bob corrects the mis-spelling of 'homeless' to 'homless' on a child's cardboard sign outside a restaurant he and Terry are about to eat in.
Shortly afterwards he uses the same incorrect word in a sentence.
It is a small detail but this film is loaded with them.
You never know what is going to be said or what will happen from one moment to the next and while I understand that this quick draw approach may not be to everyones tastes I had an absolute blast with this film for every single minute- even those where I knew I had missed something.
If you can handle the decidedly un-PC nature of this movie I can guarantee you a good time.
This film has a little bit of "Bad Boys" to it by way of Shane Black's "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" or even "The Nice guys" but still remains unique.
Skarsgard and Pena completely give themselves over to the nuttiness with Pena almost winking at the camera while he delivers some of his dialogue.
Both appear to be having a great time.
If a line about looking on the brightside that a police shooting involved white people at least sounds offensive then this film is not for you.
For everyone else this little gem delivers the goods.
It may not last too long on the big screen but in future it is likely to find itself plucked off the blu-ray shelf annually for a guaranteed good time.
RATING: 84 / 100
CONCLUSION: Mad, mad fun. Pena and Skarsgard are a great pairing and Mcdonagh's script manages to cram in so many references and so much brutally funny and very un-PC material that one viewing is surely not enough
Starring: Alexander Skarsgard, Michael Pena, Tessa Thompson, Theo James, Paul Reiser, Stephanie Stigman, Malcolm Barrett, Tait Fletcher, Caleb Landry Jones, Alma Sisneros, Keith Jardine, Dylan Kenin, David Wilmot, Derrick Barry
Screenplay: John Michael McDonagh
Music Score by: Lorne Balfe
Cinematography: Bobby Bukowski
Cinematography: Bobby Bukowski
Edited by: Chris Gill
Running Time: 98 minutes
Language: English
Rated: R16 - Violence, language, sex scenes and drug use
Running Time: 98 minutes
Language: English
Rated: R16 - Violence, language, sex scenes and drug use
As often as I have heard it used as a compliment I have heard it used as a put down or at best a back-handed compliment.
Well as it happens it is the perfect phrase to describe "War On Everyone".
This is indeed a crowd pleasing good time and I write that without a trace of condescension and as a genuine compliment - not even slightly back-handed.
This is one of the best times I have had at the cinema lately and it deserves a much better theatrical run than that which it is apparently getting.
At the time of writing this film is showing at three independent cinemas and on one screen at one of the multiplex chains (in these parts at least).
I have seen the trailer played exactly zero times.
"War On Everyone" has a title that says absolutely nothing about the movie and a poster that doesn't do much to help in that area either.
It has a very low chance of being seen by many people at all then which is disappointing.
I suppose this will add to its cult status - something that I am sure it will achieve on blu-ray and dvd.
It isn't for everyone and some will react badly to what they perceive as racism or maybe the drug use or perhaps the violence.... there is a lot that is 'offensive'.
For those who don't find offence there is a really great ride in store.
 |
| Bob (Pena) and Terry (Skarsgard) - just your typical substance abusing, rule breaking, racist movie cops |
Michael Pena and Alexander Skarsgard play Bob and Terry- two New Mexico cops.
To say that they are unconventional would be an understatement.
We first see them running down a fleeing mime.
Right before their car smashes into the hapless clown sending him over the car to land in a bloody heap Bob wonders if mimes make a sound when they're hit.
'Well, now you know' says Terry.
We then learn that he is not a bank robber or a murderer but that he has a stash of cocaine and the duo want it for themselves.
So they are bad cops..... maybe the worst since Harvey Keitel's "Bad Lieutenant".
The difference is that Abel Ferrara's film is not funny in the slightest and John Michael McDonagh's is.
Very funny.
But it is the sort of funny that it is that is important.
McDonagh's script references everything from Greek Mythology to Elmore Leonard to Lewis Carroll and has interesting facts about famous suicides and celebrity deaths scattered throughout.
 |
| Theo James, Malcolm Barrett, Caleb Landry Jones, Tessa Thompson and Stephanie Stigman |
He has a bet with his wife ("Spectre" actress Stephanie Stigman) over a Simone de Beauvoir quote and shortly after singing the praises of director Steven Soderbergh laments that although Jennifer Lopez takes her blouse off in "Out of Sight" you don't see anything.
He seems to know a little bit about a lot but nothing substantial about any one thing.
Terry on the other hand is pure brawn very little brain.
He has a very serious substance abuse problem as opposed to Bob's merely quite serious one.
His new ex-stripper girlfriend (The great Tess Thompson from "Creed") reads Susan Faludi and seems to have more in common with Bob (or at least his wife)
Terry meets her as part of an ongoing investigation involving Theo James' well spoken English criminal Lord James Mangan.
They have an informant named Reggie (an hilarious Malcolm Barrett) who has converted to Islam and sports an afro and seems to have escaped from a movie set forty years prior.
The editing is shares a similar 1970's sensibility and utilises line-wipes liberally.
There are references that quintessential seventies cop show "Starsky and Hutch" too.
Best of all is the use of Glen Campbell songs including a wonderfully random dance sequence between Thompson and Skarsgard to 'Rhinestone Cowboy'.
 |
| Jockey chasing, mime hitting, unjustified shootings, desert walks and popsicles - all part of the fun.... |
McDonagh tosses so much into his script it feels like he is using up everything that he had left on the table after "The Guard" and "Calvary".
In fact there is far too much to take in on one viewing I would think.
The lines come thick and fast.
Bob corrects the mis-spelling of 'homeless' to 'homless' on a child's cardboard sign outside a restaurant he and Terry are about to eat in.
Shortly afterwards he uses the same incorrect word in a sentence.
It is a small detail but this film is loaded with them.
You never know what is going to be said or what will happen from one moment to the next and while I understand that this quick draw approach may not be to everyones tastes I had an absolute blast with this film for every single minute- even those where I knew I had missed something.
 |
| .... and of course Glen Campbell dance numbers |
This film has a little bit of "Bad Boys" to it by way of Shane Black's "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" or even "The Nice guys" but still remains unique.
Skarsgard and Pena completely give themselves over to the nuttiness with Pena almost winking at the camera while he delivers some of his dialogue.
Both appear to be having a great time.
If a line about looking on the brightside that a police shooting involved white people at least sounds offensive then this film is not for you.
For everyone else this little gem delivers the goods.
It may not last too long on the big screen but in future it is likely to find itself plucked off the blu-ray shelf annually for a guaranteed good time.
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