Published 15:31 IST, February 11th 2021
Is 'War Dogs' based on a true story? How much of the movie was real?
War Dogs is a 2016 dark comedy movie starring Jonah Hill, Miles Teller and Bradley Cooper in the lead roles. Read more to know the true events that occurred.
Bradley Cooper's dark-comedy crime War Dogs that opened to a terrific reception in early 2016 is enjoying an even larger amount of appreciation with its recent release on Netflix. The movie is currently getting comfortable in Netflix' top 10 charts and is slowly making its way into the most popular movies list on the platform. Since it was recently confirmed to have been moulded out of a true story, let's get to know what all made it to the movie.
Is War Dogs based on a true story?
War Dogs tells the real story of the two arms dealers Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz. The film follows Efraim Diveroli (Miles Teller), an arms dealer, who by chance runs into his childhood friend David Packouz (Miles Teller) and offers him a billion-dollar opportunity to join him into making illegal trades. While they enjoy their fair share of success and luxury, the duo soon finds themselves in over their heads when they're offered a $300 million deal to supply to the rivals i.e. the Afghan forces. The film is very much grounded in reality as it gets the essence of the characters right.
Having said that, the movie has taken a few creative liberties here and there to make it more action-packed and dramatic. Rolling Stones had made a detailed report on the true events that drew a comparison between the art and the reality. It was revealed that the second half of the movie was highly conceptualized with the story arc of Bradley Cooper's Henry Girard kidnapping Packouz.
Although his character is based on a real person who did try to rip them off, his role in the lives of the duo was more or less inconsequential as he was cut off from the big deal very early on. To put it shortly, the real-life events were far less exciting and comedy-driven compared to the movie with most of the thrilling sequences, for instance, the two getting into trouble while transporting arms abroad, didn't even occur in actuality.
As for the real-life duo, the two don't seem to be in good terms anymore as they were last seen holding up legal battles against each other over the movie's rights. While Packouz openly came in aid of the film and was even seen attending the premiere, Diveroli was anything but cooperative as he sued Warner Bros for stealing his story without consent.
Updated 15:31 IST, February 11th 2021