Army of One

Based apparently on a true story of some All-American Lunatic going off on his own to hunt down and kill Bin Laden. There are several problems, one being that he travels to Pakistan although Bin Laden was in Afghanistan at the time. Oh well. I watched the first half of this film and thought it was pretty funny. The following evening I watched the second half and was incredulous at the fact that I had enjoyed the first part. This is because, half way through, it seems that the budget ran out and so, off he goes to "Pakistan" which I don't think was actually Pakistan. All the things that happen in "Pakistan" simply aren't believable. A white American guy goes wandering about Pakistan and isn't killed or kidnapped? Oh yeah sure. I think not. During the second half, Cage's overacting, which was merely an annoyance earlier, becomes so damned annoying that it required an effort of fortitude to sit and watch the entire piece of rubbish to the end, hoping that somehow, it would redeem itself with a wonderful ending. Let me disabuse you of that idea: No it doesn't.

Hilarious movie. Can't understand the bad reviews. Cage should get an Oscar for the. most absurd performance ever.

Reading the reviews it's like how can they be so serious!? This Is comedy gold. Ridiculous is a good thing.

I usually like Nicholas Cage in everything even all his camp movies, but this one takes the cake. He transforms in the weirdest archetype of crazy. Truly clinical madness. Proves Nicolas Cage has more guts then you ever thought

Russell Brand is perfect in his supporting role as is Wendy Covey.

A gem of idiocy.

First off - to all the reviewers who bash Nicolas Cage. Stop it. If you watched the credits, like any good reviewer would, you would see that he captured the character of the real Gary Faulkner. Okay - a wee bit overboard (again, no pun intended, but I'll take it), but that's what the movie was supposed to be: Gary Faulkner's adventure told the way Faulkner would - a wee bit overboard. And if you read articles about the real individual, he's a pure character all on his own. Even Faulkner pads his own life and experiences.

My main problem with the movie was ............. when they showed Denver International Airport, they didn't even get a stock photo of it. It has a very unique profile and it's too bad they couldn't have at least gotten that right given that they have Greeley in the foothills when it's in a part of Colorado that is actually flat as a pancake. YES! Colorado is not all mountains, people!

I watched this because Nic Cage was in it. I'm always interested to see what he's up to. And Russell Brand never disappoints. Come on, any movie that has Russell Brand as God is going to be a bit over the top.

It is an ODD film. If you don't like odd, this is not for you. If you do, you're in for a very fun ride.

Not many would remember a popular Indian TV show from early 90s called Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne. It was about this office peon (an utterly unimportant person in social order) with an active imagination. Typically the episodes would deal with his daydreaming scenarios. Army of One is a story about a similar man. Only thing is that it's about a real life person (Gary Faulkner) who did went on with his quest to capture Osama Bin Laden, all by himself. Now, its something of a debate whether all the incidents in his narrative are true but one thing is certain that he did end up traveling to Pakistan, on multiple occasions, with his Katana blade, without much trouble. That's classic privilege because most Asians would be stopped at airports if they were even carrying a pen knife.

Well, for Gary the orders apparently came from God himself (Played by Russel Brand in the movie). Well if God is in-fact like Brand, then we've no hope. On the other hand, it could be a smart move if he's just channeling through comedians now-a-days. Probably works for the better. Reports say that Faulkner got dangerously close to finding Osama despite his bumbling, idiosyncratic demeanor. The CIA even considers recruiting him. Well, as far as expendable foot soldiers go, Faulkner might actually be a fine candidate. Although, Nicholas Cage went a little over the top in his portrayal of Faulkner, I think that any man embarking on such an insane quest is in-fact hysterical. So Cage's performance makes sense.

If you put aside the main plot for a moment, you'll realize that the movie does have have a heart. Gary's relationship with a single parent Marci is beautiful and touching. Marci's adopted daughter has Cerebral Palsy and to her, Gary is the most interesting person in the world. While he might be the Don Quixote swinging his sword (Katana in this case) at the windmills but when he comes home, he finds the real purpose of his quest. Its a funny movie and if you like watching Nicholas Cage going nuts, its full of it. It's gratifying to see Hollywood recovering from the grimness surrounding 9/11 and daring to bring some levity around the tragedy. Kind of reminds me about the Bollywood movie Tere Bin Laden and its sequel. Watch Army of One when you've nothing else to do.

Nic ("Ghost Rider") play Gary Falkner, a middle aged dude that seems insane but isn't and sort of reminds you of a strange uncle that you don't personally have but imagine many people do. He can't stop talking or expressing himself, is extremely confident in himself, and fails at almost everything as he alienates everyone. His high pitched nasal rantings about whatever pops into his head are always earnest and never just performance for the sake of common decency.

Nic may be known for some crazy over the top acting moments but this performance is almost believable especially once you see some clips of the real Gary Faulkner and realize how true to the guy it is.

The movie itself is a pretty unique story just as it was when it really happened. Gary believes that God has visited him and wants him to go capture Osama Bin Laden himself. In the film Russel Brandt ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall") plays God but even so it's never totally clear whether God is actually talking to him or if it is a figment of his overactive ego.

Of course, as you might expect, a single individual traveling to the middle east to capture the most sought after man in the world will run into some problems not the least of which is his girlfriend Marci. Obviously, she thinks he's nuts and encourages him (read pleads with him) to stay home and give up on his holy calling. There ends up being a lot of interior soul searching for Gary as he tries to figure out how to balance his very real (to him) beliefs and the rest of the world that tells him to ignore a part of himself that he just can't ignore for very long.

I'd love to say that this film transcends and becomes an exploration of the ideas of belief, perception, purpose, and calling but it just never does. He goes back and forth a few times and then things get resolved in a pretty standard way.

I know I'll watch this film a few more times someday but strictly as a chance to show someone a crazy Nic Cage performance that has a few solid laughs in it not as an I'm-in-the-mood-for-a-great-film movie night.