Andrew Niccol has to rank as one of the industry's least appreciated directors. His Ethan Hawke- starring Gattaca is one of the great sci-fi films of all time, and just last year he released one of the best films about the second Gulf War, Good Kill (also starring Ethan Hawke), to virtually no reception. He also wrote and directed this, Lord of War, a crime-drama-come-deft-black-comedy about an arms dealer (Nicolas Cage) confronting the morality of his work while being chased by a determined Interpol agent (Hawke once more). Even putting aside the fact that it contains f*cking Nic Cage as a man who deals arms to gold-coated-machine-gun wielding African warlords (so much about that sentence screams "YES!"), Lord of War is still a triumph, with Niccol and Cage keeping it sardonic and deadpan enough for the film to be taken seriously without ever becoming too serious or preachy. The film also contains a dazzling opening sequence, as we see a single bullet's journey from production line to child's skull.
