War, Inc.

War, Inc. is a 2008 satire/BlackComedy about an ex-CIA assassin named Hauser played by John Cusack who works for the Halliburton-esque company Tamerlane. As the movie opens he's being sent on assignment to the recently "liberated" country of Turaqistan to kill an oil executive from a neighboring nation named Omar Sharif, because Sharif is a barrier to Tamerlane's interests. Hauser's cover is a producer of a trade show demonstrating the effectiveness of Tamerlane's campaign, which basically puts him in charge of everything PR-related, from reeling in leftist journalist Natalie Hagelhausen (Marisa Tomei), who Hauser has a crush on, to managing the wedding of Yonica Babyyeah (Hilary Duff), a slutty Central Asian popstar. And Hauser's much-buried conscience is starting to flare up again...


 * Affably Evil: Hauser, though he's more of a dark Anti-Hero.
 * A Handful for an Eye: Hauser blinds Walker by pouring hot sauce into his eyes.
 * The Atoner: Hauser, after saving Natalie in a war zone.
 * Badass: Hauser
 * Badass Bookworm: Natalie Hagelhausen
 * Big Bad / The Dragon: An interesting case where  is the Big Bad of this story, but is himself only The Dragon to the former Vice President.
 * Black Comedy: So much so it makes Doctor Strangelove feel like a feel-good romp.
 * Byronic Hero: Hauser
 * The Chessmaster: Walken.
 * Combat Pragmatist: Hauser. He uses a bottle opener to stab someone in the side of the head and uses Walken in his wheelchair as a shield while charging down a hallway.
 * Crapsack World: Turaqistan.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Hauser and Marsha - which makes sense, as they're played by John and Joan Cusack
 * Downer Ending: Our heroes escape from Turaqistan on Yonica's plane, and start to talk about what they're going to do next . The scene then cuts to a announcement by the former Vice President declaring the events of the previous night an Ugigi terrorist attack, and declaing war on Ugigistan.
 * Every One Remembers the Stripper: The only scene critics seemed to talk about was one where Yonica sticks a scorpion down her short shorts and starts moaning in ecstasy.
 * Expy: Dan Aykroyd's character is basically Dick Cheney. Which is odd, as another character makes a reference to Dick Cheney later on...
 * Also John and Joan Cusack basically reprise their roles from Grosse Pointe Blank.
 * Faux Affably Evil: Walken.
 * For the Evulz: Walken's revenge plan is simply to make Hauser suffer.
 * Fun with Subtitles: Everything Omar Sharif says is subtitled, even though he's speaking perfectly comprehensible English
 * Genre Savvy: Hauser, Marsha, Natalie and Omar Sharif know all too well what kind of Crapsack World they are currently inhabiting.
 * G-Rated Drug: Hauser regularly drinks shotglasses full of hot sauce to deal with his guilt about his job.
 * Jerkass: Uk-mi-fay and his entire posse.
 * Knight Templar: Walken.
 * Large Ham: Walken.
 * Left the Background Music On: When Hauser is questioned about his family, he get depressed and the lively music stops. He then gets up and puts the needle back on the record player.
 * Meta Casting: Hilary Duff as a slutty pop star (also a Take That at other pop stars whose personas are sluttier than Hilary's)
 * No Name Given: Dan Aykroyd's character is only ever referred to as "The former Vice President".
 * Qurac: Turaqistan, which seems to be a blend of about 40% Iraq and 60% Afghanistan
 * The Reveal: Two, which come one right after the other. First, that the Viceroy is . Second, that   is Yonica's father
 * Shout-Out: They did name a character Omar Sharif, after all.
 * Spiritual Sequel: To Grosse Pointe Blank - John and Joan Cusack basically fill their exact same roles, Dan Aykroyd plays a supporting character in each movie, and both movies involve an assassin growing tired of his job considering quitting after falling in love
 * The Stoic: Hauser.
 * Take That: At the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, George Bush, Dick Cheney, embedded journalists, and slutty pop stars
 * Trailers Always Spoil: Ben Kingsley is featured in both posters for the movie and the trailer, which is odd given his relative lack of screen time
 * The Voice: Two of them - Jerry, the "Guide Star" operator who functions as Hauser's de facto therapist, and the Viceroy, who only communicates via a screen of always shifting famous Americans and a heavily altered computer voice
 * Villainous Breakdown: Marsha becomes extremely unhinged as the movie progresses, culminating in her screaming her head off at Walken's confession.