Todd Phillips' $86M True Crime Story Gets a Glowing Review from the Real Arms Dealer (But Clarifies Which Events Were Fictionalized)

Todd Phillips is one of the most successful comedy film directors of all time. The filmmaker began his career directing comedies such as Road trip, Old schooland Starsky and Hutchand then directed the 2009 The Hangoverwhich instantly became a comedy sensation. This led Phillips to make two more Hangover films, completing the trilogy. After the enormous success of Hangover films, Phillips had much more freedom to take on whatever projects he wanted.

This led him to direct Clown in 2019. Clown It was another huge success for Phillips, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Director. This year, Phillips also directed the much more controversial sequel Clown: Folie à Deux. However, before driving any of the Clown films, Phillips directed a dark comedy crime film in 2016which was his first film after The Hangover Part III.

War Dogs Gets a Solid Review from the Real Gun Dealer

War Dogs It is based on a true story involving arms dealer David Packouz

War Dogs received a strong accuracy score from one of the real-life arms dealers on whom the film is based. The crime film was directed by Phillips and follows two childhood friends who exploit a government initiative and become international arms traffickers.. The cast includes Miles Teller, Jonah Hill, Ana de Armas and Bradley Cooper. War Dogs is based on a true story, and David Packouz, the real-life figure Teller portrays in the film, recently explained exactly what is needed in the film.

In a video with InsiderPackouz, who actually has a brief cameo in the film, stated that War Dogs It's about 70% accurate. He stated that he was very happy with the result of the film, but admitted that several moments in the film were invented. Examples of fictional moments in War Dogs are the Death Triangle scene in Iraq and the scene where Hill's character fires a machine gun after being robbed. Read Packouz's full comments below:

The film definitely makes it more emotional than it was on a day-to-day basis, but overall I think it's a very well-made film and I was very happy with how it turned out. It turned out to be about 70% accurate.

The scene that most people ask me, if it was true, is the death triangle scene. The funny thing about this scene is that it is true, but with one big caveat. That didn't happen to us. It happened to the guy who wrote the script for War Dogs, his name is Stephen Chin. We never went to Iraq. There was a Beretta deal, which is the basis of the entire death scene triangle. That part is true, but we actually ended up failing to fulfill the contract. We never fulfilled that contract.

Another completely fictional scene was the scene where Efraim buys marijuana and then gets robbed, and then he pulls out a machine gun and shoots it in the air and gets his 300 dollars back. That never happened.

War Dogs It's an exciting dark comedy film

War Dogs was clearly made at a time in Phillips' career when he was trying to transition from traditional comedies to more serious filmsand this is evident in the final product. The crime film tells a very serious and high-stakes story, but includes a lot of comedy to provide lightness for viewers. War Dogs is a solid film based on a very fascinating story, so it's interesting to hear Packouz's take on the film.

Source: Insider