Jonah Hill and Miles Teller star in 2016 comedy, “War Dogs,” an interesting look to recent history shrouded in critique of the American dream. The film is based on a true story, one involving arms dealers living in Miami Beach during the Iraq War.

Centering around Miles Teller’s character, David Packouz, the film provides a version of the American dream that is both lauded and condemned.

Throughout the film, Packouz is depicted being a massage therapist for wealthy Miami clientele as well as being a shady arms dealer for the US government.

The dichotomy between the two professions is clear, and the film’s stylistic approaches represent this. The audience follows a young man without direction in his twenties working for rich middle-aged men narrated by a lost, discontent Packouz.

Scenes are slow and seem to drag, however when Packouz becomes a high rolling criminal with an expensive sports car, scenes are rapid-fire, and pass by with entertaining — albeit bordering on trite — musical montages.

The film is one of excess, yet remains grounded in relation to other films centering around scheming the American system, such as “Wolf of Wall Street”, both supported by Jonah Hill and extreme wealth.

While the film is critical of the American dream and war-mongering profession in general, it remembers the highlights and lowlights of each situation, and how each can alter a person.

The viewer sees the comparison between working for others and working for oneself, however fails to remember a sizable portion of the population. At 75 dollars an hour as a massage therapist, Packouz is depicted as average, even though a huge amount of Americans could only dream to see that money per hour.

Packouz’s intial profession is seen as demeaning throughout the rest of the film as well which is slightly perturbing due to the wealth gap existing in the country today, yet his eventual return to the job reflects Packouz’s ability to quit the game when the time is right in addition to the fragility of wealth.

Jonah Hill, playing Efraim Diveroli, is the stand-out of the film, delivering one of his best performances to date. His commitment to the role, both mentally and physically is incredible, driving the film forward completely. He nears the only source of comedy in the film as well, which turns out to be okay, as the film merely uses the relief to

The lack of detail in Diveroli’s personal life, however, seems like a missed opportunity. The extent of the film’s involvement in Packouz’s personal life is generally tedious.

While there is value to showing his relationship to his girlfriend, Iz, played by Ana de Armas, and family, it is too much of a central theme of the movie. After all the screen time given to Iz and David’s relationship, the only lesson learned is that lying is bad, leaving the viewer questioning if the near two-hour running time could have been cut down.