The Hangover (2009)Movies

After an hour or so, when the would-be comedy “War Dogs” finally gets around to a point to focus on, it’s stale ammunition that’s been sitting in a dusty Albanian warehouse for 40 years. I assume the movie got its jokes from the same place.

“War Dogs” illustrates how, once you make a studio a lot of money, as director Todd Phillips did with the “Hangover” movies, indulgent suits will let you do something completely beyond your competence. Phillips, also a co-writer on this mishegoss, directed this tired, lumbering, flaccid story of arms-dealing rascals as though hoping to be mistaken for Martin Scorsese — all freeze frames, voice-overs and classic rock. It’s like Fanta hoping to pass for Bordeaux because they’re both liquid.

Jonah...