Interview. John Cusack.

Critical reaction to War, Inc [official site] has been, shall we say, mixed. Caroline McKenzie's pan in Reverse Shot ("War, Inc is no more than an ugly byproduct of the mass-produced culture it so wishes to satirize") is just one recent sampling.

And yet the film's darkly comic take on the corporatization of warfare has been a hit where it counts most - with audiences. It's set to expand to several cities on Friday, so Sean Axmaker talks with Cusack about, among other things, his two very different treatments of the ongoing war in Iraq, War, Inc. and Grace Is Gone.

Updated through 6/13.

Rob Capriccioso talks with Cusack, too - for Identity Theory.

Update, 6/11: Online viewing tip. Cusack's pop quiz at MoveOn.org.

Updates, 6/13: "[T]here is no polite or nice or calm or neat or kind or sane or rational way to process the situation in Iraq," writes Charles Mudede in the Stranger. "War, Inc might very well be the film that the future uses to understand our bleak moment of shock and awe." And he talks with Cusack, too.

"[T]he satire-challenged Right has tried to attack Cusack and War, Inc as (all together now) unpatriotic and a slam on American troops," notes Arianna Huffington. But "Cusack has received many moving emails and postings on his MySpace page from soldiers and military family members supporting the film and its message. Their missives run from disappointment to disillusionment and fury over being asked to serve and sacrifice while mercenaries are better paid - and often better treated."

Posted by dwhudson at June 10, 2008 1:08 AM