Three of the four founders and directors, including yours truly, of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle brandished their firearm-free first-takes and reviews of "War Dogs" starring Jonah Hill and Miles Teller, directed by Todd Phillips. Here's Pamela Powell, Jim Alexander, and myself with our first impressions!
Read MoreYou know the "Goodfellas" tropes: excessive narration, ordinary people getting rich or powerful doing extraordinary and often illegal activities played by colorful actors or actresses, dramatic license spinning a likely lesser true story, a kicking period soundtrack, pervasive drug use, freeze-frame shots to stamp moments, and a tidy epilogue of comeuppance. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it is also lazily standing on the shoulders of giants. That’s the impact and existence of Todd Phillips’s “War Dogs” in a gun… err… nutshell.
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