Niccol is no stranger to hot-button issues, but he outdoes his previous efforts by injecting this satire of war profiteering in the Halliburton age with a wicked arsenic wit.

Even though Niccol sometimes puts unnecessary homilies in the mouths of his characters, he mostly pulls off the tricky feat of being direct and breezy at the same time. "Lord of War" skims along like a dance routine.

Impressive performances, fascinating info-bytes and pertinent editorial, but in the end, it feels too much like an illustrated lecture.

Yuri is Mr. Niccol’s Michael Corleone from “The Godfather” trilogy (directed by Mr. Cage’s uncle Francis Ford Coppola). Both Yuri and Michael put “family” first with their words, but make them last with their deeds.