I don't terribly get into the concept of the anti-hero. An anti-hero is a movie's protagonist whom the audience finds hard to route for since he is a criminal or lacks any kind of moral structure or endearing qualities. "Falling Down" is a prime example.

Cage plays the anti hero in this picture. His character knows what his business does to people. He is aware of the harm it causes to innocent people in almost every country, so why does he still do it? By his own admission, it's not the money, it's not the lifestyle, it is simply because "he's good at it."

I simply couldn't route for a character like that; however, it gives the character plenty of room for growth, so I allowed myself to get involved with his story and enjoy the picture overall.

The movie, in presentation, is very much like "Goodfellas" but about gun runners instead of a mafia family. It is covered with Yuri's voice over explaining how he got involved, moments in history when business picked up, the contacts he's made that protect him from any legal prosecution and how he's managed to maintain a marriage to the girl of his dreams, played by Bridget Moynahan (The Sum of All Fears).

On that level, I found the picture extremely interesting and educational. Eventually, the movie uses this means to allow certain character to spout of political reasons why these gun runners are destroying the world, which is fine. At least the movie is using the medium to take a stand on a social issue.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH GIVES AWAY A VERY PREDICTABLE PLOT POINT FROM ACT THREE.

However, movies like this always need a martyr. This one came in the form of Yuri's younger brother Vitaly, played by Jared Leto (Panic Room). He is killed on what I thought would be Yuri's final deal in West Africa. Vitaly was killed trying to blow up the merchandise when he realized the munitions would be used to massacre the innocent people camped in the desert before them. Vitaly died because he had a conscience and a moral structure by that point. He was the tragedy of the film and Yuri's story, but ultimately predictable

SO, Yuri loses his wife, is disowned by his parents and gets his brother killed. Would this be enough to make him stop? NOPE. He simply continues to sell guns. Why? BECAUSE HE'S GOOD AT IT, and what else does he have less.

I'm not sure what this ending has to say or represent. If it's not meant to represent anything, than the ending sucks. I can understand Yuri needs to continue to serve his clientele to keep himself out of prison, keep his high ranking contacts surviced, including the White House, but without seeing the growth of his character, the viewer is given nothing.

I would have preferred it if Yuri wasn't so damn smug about continuing his work. Maybe if they had him play it as if he was in hell, a catch 22 he'd never get out of until someone killed him. With the smug delivery of his final lines, I get the sense he learned nothing from losing everything and thus what is the point of the movie? To show us that gun running is present and responsible for the deaths of millions? We could have gotten that by showing Yuri's angst also.

The picture started to show Yuri's inner conflicts, especially after he had a competitor named Simeon, played by Ian Holm (Garden State), killed before him, but the picture gave it up and went with the more arrogant ending.

Overall, I liked the picture. I thought it was well shot and well acted. This was my favorite performance by Jared Leto. He ate up Cage in every scene they had together, I think.

I enjoyed the concept immensely, but the ending I would have liked to see done differently. The movie is fairly violent, not like a Tarantino film or anything, but it is about a career criminal, so death shrouds his work. If you have weak sensibilities, than I'd stay away from this one. Otherwise, it's pretty entertaining and educational, despite some story glitches and couple shallow plot points.