Army of One (2016) User Reviews

When you send one man to do an army's job...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 11 November 2016]

Right, now I have to state that I wasn't aware that this was actually based on real events. Yeah, I had not heard about the guy who actually underwent this trek to find Bin Laden himself.

But anyway, I sat down to watch "Army of One" with my better half, because my wife is a fan of Nicolas Cage. I, however, am not a fan of his, not in any way; I think he has one expression for every scene and every character - and that is constipated.

I will say that Nicolas Cage impressed me tremendously here with his performance in "Army of One". It was good to see him in a role such as this, and get to see a more diverse and offbeat side to his acting. I was actually genuinely impressed with what he pulled off here. And this is easily the second best performance of his entire career, with the best (in my opinion) being "Matchstick Men" from 2003.

The story in "Army of One" is about a fairly unstable civilian who decides to set out to find Bin Laden and bring him to justice, since the American army had no luck in doing so.

Now, I do like Russell Brand, but I didn't think he was the right cast for this movie. It was just a bit too off to see him in this movie. He is a funny guy, for sure, but he is better at comedies of a whole different genre.

"Army of One" is actually a very enjoyable movie, and it is a movie that is fun and turned out to be entertaining. I was surprised with how good I found the movie, so I can actually warmly recommend that you take the time to watch "Army of One", whether or not you are a fan of Nicolas Cage. It is a movie that tells a good story.

Unique Performance from Cage

[truemythmedia · 6/10 · 4 September 2019]

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.

Not as good as i thought

[jawad-shafiq · 4/10 · 30 October 2016]

O.k. I will let them get away with the totally inaccurate depiction of Pakistan, but this movies is just not fun to watch. This movie does not fit into the genre of comedy, it's not a drama and the inaccurate depiction of Pakistan makes it unfit to be a biography as well....

So overall not a good movie, the only good thing in the movie is Nicolas Cage, but there's only so much he can do!

Seems like the movie-makers did no research about Pakistan, but as I said earlier, I will let them get away with the depiction of Pakistan. But the sad part is that the movie has no story whatsoever, no direction nothing.

Silly, Ridiculous and Mostly Annoying

[rutzelb · 1/10 · 31 December 2016]

Sadly, apparently this is somewhat a true story. Sad.

Gary Faulkner (Nicolas Cage) is told by God (Russell Brand) to go to Pakistan and find and capture Osama Bin Laden.

If Mr Cage did not use that ridiculous voice - thinking he was mimicking the real Gary Faulkner - this would not have been as bad as it is. I mean by using his own voice this could have been good, funny and at least watchable and most important of all the Nicolas Cage Impersonators would have been in 7th Heaven. Now they are shaking their collective heads. Sad.

We do see the real Gary Faulkner at the end of the movie as he appeared on the TV show The View and in other interviews, and his voice sounded good and nothing like the one used by Nicolas Cage in this Silly, Ridiculous and mostly Annoying movie. It was this voice used by Cage that put this into a tailspin. (If you didn't like this, why did you watch it to the end?)

Truth be told I was hoping this would save itself as I do like Nicolas Cage and I was hoping that the Director and other powers that be would see that this voice of Cage's just wasn't working. They didn't see it. Sad. Also it was the out-of-control-behavior Faulkner exhibited that was just as annoying.

Using Russell Brand as God was okay, but when this "God" uses foul language then all this falls apart. Couldn't anyone see that? Apparently not. Sad.

There is nothing more to be said. This was like being in a nightmare we couldn't get out of. Very sad. If there was ever a story that never had to be told, this is it. (1/10)

Violence: Yes, Faulkner gets beat up. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes.

Come on! Not THAT bad

[lokilfa · 7/10 · 3 November 2016]

Is the depiction of Pakistan good? Probably not. Is the biography accurate? Let's say "inspired by real events". Is this the best comedy of the year? Probably not.

But, Nicolas Cage is above his own average, there is a story to tell and supporting cast do a decent job. In a sense the movie captures the spirit of the character if not the facts, the pacing is acceptable and eventually your viewing experience will be pleasant even if uneventful. Photography and editing are decent and the overall result is a slightly better than average comedy.

It's a full six and a third adjusted to seven to counterbalance the over criticism of my exigent fellow reviewers. There's a lot worse around!

Now, I've tried to carefully avoid mentioning Russel Brand (GOD) so far. That's because his acting is really terrible and his small but essential part brings down the whole to an annoyed five at best. What I've done is to imagine Steve Carrel playing God the whole time and trick my brain. No, I did NOT use drugs, it's a natural brain self defence technique.

Pathetic movie totally biased and no research done!! Come on !!

[dr_billa · 1/10 · 4 November 2016]

This may contain spoilers. I live in Islamabad and its not what has been depicted about my beautiful country and its capital. I guess the writer being ethnically Indian has done it on purpose showing Pakistan as a Middle Eastern country, which it is NOT!!! Come on get a proper person for translation all Urdu signs and translations were like as if you got from google translate. We have right hand driving cars in Pakistan not left. Also many other discrepancies that are totally based on the lies people are fed about Pakistan, we are a progressive nation and struggling with the menace of terrorism. In the end I would like to register a protest to the makers of the movie, your movie is totally false in depiction of Pakistan and its capital, do some research and do not save money next time. Hire some professionals.

Loved this movie. Cage comedy

[rebeccax5 · 7/10 · 17 November 2016]

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.

Some Laughs But Gets Too Silly & Ridiculous

[larrys3 · 4/10 · 23 November 2016]

I know Nicolas Cage takes a lot of "flak" from reviewers, but I'm always interested in what he'll come up with next. Here he portrays Gary Faulkner, from Greeley, Colorado, an actual person, who was commanded by God to travel to Pakistan by himself and capture Osama bin Laden.

If it sounds silly and ridiculous, and it is, but I at least got some laughs out of the movie especially in the middle part of the film, after which it unfortunately falls apart. To me, Cage is always charismatic on the screen, and I thought Wendi McLendon-Covey was well cast as Marci here, who ends up in a relationship with Gary.

Overall, a disappointment from the very talented filmmaker Larry Charles, with a script from Rajiv Joseph and Scott Rothman. Some laughs here, but not enough to carry the movie.

Funny movie 7/10

[HaagseTVjunkie · 7/10 · 31 October 2016]

Saw this movie last weekend, did not know what to expect. I never heard of Gary Faulker before, but I remembered that a couple years ago there was a crazy American who traveled to Pakistan to capture OBL. I thought is was a hoax, nobody can be that stupid. So Meet Gary Faulker, people.

Nicolas Cage played the role very good, I did not see Nicolas Cage but a very annoying American patriot. Russel Brand played the role of god. He Was no Morgan Freeman god, but for this movie he played the part very convincing. Wendi McLendon-Covey acted a bit wooden and I really did not believe here role in the beginning of the movie. Extra notion for Rainn Wilson who played a small role in the movie as a some kind of jester.

Plot of the movie was very funny and fast pacing. Remember, this is not a documentary but a comedy. Watch this movie, if you want a real laugh.

serious lack of research

[choudry-arif · 1/10 · 3 November 2016]

This is what happen when you lack research and live under the usual impression that Pakistan is in middle east or Afghanistan is same as Pakistan.

In scene of entering the cloth shop, the cloths are more used in Iran or Afghanistan, not in Pakistan.

No one rides on donkey, even the poorest the street sellers have even upgraded from bicycle to motorcycles.

Cars are driving in wrong lane, in Pakistan cars are right hand drive google out driving rules in Pakistan.

The blue Burqa, who wears that (hint Afghanistan) Over all a very badly researched movie, perhaps strengthening the impression that people in US don't know world outside US.

There are few movies made before on kinda same story, so nothing new here either , try looking up for "tere bin laden"

Welcome back Nicolas........

[FlashCallahan · 8/10 · 6 November 2016]

Gary Faulkner, an unemployed handyman, and modern day Don Quixote receives a vision from God telling him to capture Osama bin Laden.

Armed with only a sword purchased from a home-shopping network, Gary travels to Pakistan to complete his mission.

While on his quest, Gary encounters old friends back home in Colorado, new friends he makes in Pakistan, the enemies he makes at the CIA -- and even God and Bin Laden themselves.........

Say whatever you want about Nicolas Cage, but he when he can be bothered, he is one of the most awe-inspiring actors Hollywood has seen in a very long time. Unfortunately for his housekeeping, he has starred in more than his fair share of terrible films.

So it's such a relief that Cage is back to his maniacal best, and he hasn't been this good since Port Of Call New Orleans.

His characters traits and the way he explains situations and theories is what really endears you to Faulkner's quest. Yes, we all know that he may have delusions of grandeur, and maybe the dialysis, or lack of is causing him to hallucinate, but you cannot help but hope that he completes his quest.

Depending on whether you like Brand or not, him playing God needs to be taken with a huge pinch of salt, because it's nothing more than Brand in a white sheet.

Yes, he can be pretty terrorising toward Gary, but they missed a trick not picking someone like Michael Shannon for that role, it would have added so much more edge to the narrative.

There are times when it's frustrating, times when it's laugh out loud funny, but no matter what the narrative gives you, one cannot deny the fact that Cage has really put some effort and research into his role, and it's wonderful to see him not coasting.

Keep it up Nic...

Nic vs Osama

[bowmanblue · 7/10 · 6 September 2020]

Sometimes when a film starts off with the tagline 'Based on true events' you really do have to take it with a pinch of salt. However, in the case of Nic Cage's 'Army of One' it does appear that this - unbelievably enough - actually happened! One ordinary man in America decided back when terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden was alive an on the run, that he had been appointed by God in order to bring this fugitive to justice.

Here, we have an hour and a half of Nic Cage (dare I say as you've never seen him before - i.e. with a big white, bushy beard, receding hair and a matching ponytail) trying to figure out a way of getting from the U.S. to the Middle East in order to detail America's most wanted man.

It's clear from the start that our protagonist isn't, er, all that there. He's supposed to be having regular kidney treatment and, upon skipping his doses, starts getting messages from God - who just so happens to look like Russell Brand. Although Brand is featured heavily on all marketing, his input is little more than an extended cameo. I'm no fan of his normally, but I do confess to laughing at his line delivery and any fan of his really will enjoy his performance, possibly even feeling a little short-changed at his lack of screen time.

Cage is well used to playing quirky characters and, once you get used to the weird, high-pitched voice he's putting on, you'll find him very watchable as he stumbles from one hair-brained scheme to the next. If the film has a flaw it's that it is really based on real life. We all know that one average guy didn't single-handedly capture Bin Laden, therefore the film has to reflect this and spends a lot of the second half trying to invent weird and wacky antics for our hero to do in Pakistan while he's trying to find out where his target is.

You also have a romantic sub-plot thrown in there. I don't know whether this was based on anything that really happened or not (I'm guessing not!), but it does just seem to be in there - again - to fill time and just to pad out the run-time to make it into a feature length movie.

'Army of One' isn't anything that special, but it is quite watchable and Nic Cage alone guarantees that the movie is at least entertaining. Plus his on-screen dynamic with Brand does seem to work and, for the brief moments they're together, they do have real chemistry. Probably a 'rent' rather than a 'buy' type of film.

I love my easy chair more than this movie.

[raynrobertspoetry · 4/10 · 3 April 2017]

If a movie, especially a comedy, doesn't wake me up and keep me awake, if I fall asleep half way through it, I've either had too much to drink or I've been lulled by boredom. Well, I wasn't drinking, but woke in my easy chair after it ended and I didn't have any desire to go back and watch what I missed. Confusing, disjointed, not very funny, weird and then deep sleep. That's about all I can say about it.

What a waste of talent!

[angelhardt · 3/10 · 10 November 2016]

I was so looking forward to seeing Nicolas Cage and Russel Brand in one movie as I love both of them. However, the storyline consists of endless meaningless dialogues, Cage overacting all the way to a point where you can't stand the self absorbed ADD behavior of the character. I did not realize it was supposed to be a comedy? Not much happens in the movie, just a bunch of traveling back and forth with little insight of Pakistan, just so very cliché. Although the movie is just 90 minutes long, I started looking at my cell phone after about 20 minutes cause my mind kept wandering, it was just so boring. What a waste of so much potential. What a waste of my time - I am frustrated.

Stop bashing Nicolas Cage - this was a hard character to capture - Pun not intended, but it is a good one!

[thejdrage · 7/10 · 25 November 2022]

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.

Over the top and not funny

[Gordon-11 · 21 March 2017]

This film tells the story of a handyman in the United States who decides to act on the calling by God to go to Pakistan to eliminate bin Laden. Despite not having enough funds to finance his trips, not knowing his target's whereabouts and having no experience in such operations, he repeatedly goes to Pakistan to enact on his transpersonal goal.

"Army of One" seems like it could be funny, so I watched it. Unfortunately, I did not find it funny at all. The man in question is portrayed to be unusually passionate about his calling, to the point of being unreasonable. The film turns out not to be fun, because it is very over the top with unfunny jokes. I find the story and the delivery of the story simply atrocious. Even 90 minutes of screen time is too long.

Total piece of crap

[danishiftikhar-41305 · 1/10 · 9 November 2016]

At first I thought this is going to be an awesome comedy movie and I watched whole movie and couldn't find a single joke. The country they are showing in the movie is not Pakistan, not even close. I mean does Islamabad looks like slums? Seriously? That CIA office? This shows the mentality of the directors. Hated every single minute of this movie. Don't waste your time. I am a big fan of Nicolas Cage but in this movie they totally wasted such an amazing talent. It could have been a lot better if it was written properly and implemented as well. There is nothing wrong with the concept but the story line is like it's written by the 8 years old kid who doesn't know about anything at all.

Grandiose Delusions Of a Handyman Don Quixote

[organicsocial · 6/10 · 4 November 2016]

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.

Movie badly made

[rehmankhilji · 1/10 · 16 November 2016]

Nicolas Cage, well he still is one my fav actors. Come on this guy has some seriously good movies in his career. Then i simply don't know he start up signing one bad movie after the other. Perhaps he was doing too much experiments with his cinema. Well here is another bad movie. I don't know and i don't recall any mad American coming to Pakistan to capture OBL. But google it and found something. Well never cross my eyes in the local newspaper or something. As Gary Faulkner had no bloody clue where Pakistan is and tried to reach in a boat from San Diego similarly the makers of the movie have no idea what Pakistan is, how Pakistan looks like and how the hell things are over here. Makers have badly confused Pakistan with bombed up Iraq / Messed up Afghanistan. Islamabad or any other city for that matter is not as shown in the movie. Nor the people nor any thing like that. So it would have been a very better movie if there was a bit of research involved in it. And please N Cage... be in some good movies.... its quiet torturing watching you in one pathetic movie after another.

A lovely satire

[hgrahovac4 · 7/10 · 1 November 2016]

When I heard that Nic Cage will star in Larry Charles' new movie, I was psyched. The director of Borat and the Dictator plus the writer of Seinfeld making a bin Laden satire with the greatest genius in Hollywood, Wendi McLendon from Goldbergs and Russell Brand as God (or his version of God). How can you go wrong? Well I am happy to say that the movie is a lovely satire but don't get your hopes up if this is going to be something on the level of the Dictator. Cage as Gary Faulkner is hilarious (the movie would be worse without him), the guy they picked to play bin Laden looks like him and did a nice job for those two scenes in the movie. Brand nails his role as God. McLendon-Covey is extremely sexy as Marci and has lovely chemistry with Cage. In the end, this movie might get panned because of the satire or Nic Cage but I'm betting that in a couple of years they will be talking about it every time somebody brings up George W. Also the ending is pretty funny.

Awful

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 8 October 2019]

ARMY OF ONE is one of those ridiculous Hollywood stories that's so unbelievable it has to be true. It tells of some over-zealous American nutcase who decides it's his mission from God to travel to Pakistan and single-handedly capture Osama bin Laden. Yeah, you heard me. Sadly, in the hands of these guys, the film quickly descends into the level of farcical nonsense, with a bearded Nicolas Cage giving one of his very worst performances: completely over the top, stupid and unbelievable, and annoying within minutes. Even worse than him is the execrable Russell Brand, who somebody decided it would be a good idea to cast in the role of God. Yeah, big mistake...

Very cute, quirky comedy

[quridley · 8/10 · 21 December 2016]

There's Hollywood action star Nic Cage. There's multifaceted, serious actor Nic Cage. And then there's wacky, experimental Nic Cage.

Nic Cage goes back to his roots in smaller quirky comedies and explodes off the screen in every scene. He's in almost every scene and, while the script is mediocre, Cage elevates what would've been a forgettable C-movie into a fun and funny B-movie. This is proof that Cage is better than ever and capable of A+ material. Hope this is a sign of a comeback.

Its no Raising Arizona or Vampire's Kiss, but its good fluff. I think it was directed well enough but the script was too bare and the editing was a little sloppy. Cage has the most meat with his role and none of the other performers have much to do but react to him, instead of play off him. Would've been great to see Cage riff with these very funny and improv style performers, especially Rainn Wilson. Cage will make more comedies tho.

Not Nearly as Bad as Critics Say

[arfdawg-1 · 7/10 · 5 June 2019]

I'm not a fan of the director. But this movie is no where near as bad as teh crititics said. In fact it's rather refreshing to seeCage actually acting in character for a change.

It kept my attention and thought it was a reasonably funny movie.

No belly laughs but not slow and boring either

The hunt is on

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 17 August 2017]

Nicolas Cage tries to take a break from straight to Pay TV action movies with a free wheeling quirky comedy as Gary Faulkner who we are told in the opening monologue who might be certifiably insane. We are also told that this movie is somewhat trueish.

Faulkner, the demented handyman experiences a vision of God (Russell Brand) who tells him to go Pakistan and find and capture Osama Bin Laden. That is what Faulkner tries to do armed with a samurai sword. He attempts to sail there from San Diego, then hand glide there from Israel before deciding to fly to Pakistan on a plane.

Director Larry Charles holds back on the film being a satirical romp and concentrates on Faulkner's eccentricities with some allusions to him being Don Quixote (we even see Faulkner riding a donkey.)

The film falls a bit flat and Cage's whiny voice becomes annoying. It also does not help that Marrakesh is unconvincing standing in for Islamabad.

Army of Over-Acting

[oldvinyl · 2 November 2016]

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.