Nonureva Really Surprised!

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Christophe Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

zardoz-13 Director Stephen C. Miller's straight-to-video crime thriller "Arsenal" is a my-brother's-keeper saga. Miller and his company lensed this film on location in Biloxi, Mississippi, and it appears that they shot the whole thing there. The houses, the community, and the look of everything is so genuine that it couldn't have been faked. Miller doesn't rely on visual tricks, but instead he uses the actual locations. This 94-minute, R-rated, thriller shows why brothers for the most part stick together. The same cannot be said for the other pair of brothers, one of whom is played by Nicolas Cage. Apparently, Cage wanted to play a first-class low-life dastard. Wearing an obvious black mop of a wig, Cage has tried to disguise themselves with a Pinocchio-like nose. He plays the equivalent of Robert De Niro's Al Capone. In one scene, he shoves a length of pipe down a man's throat and then hammers it in the rest of the way with a baseball bat! He is a villain's villain, and Cage wallows in the unruliness of his wicked villainy to the point of overacting. This is Cage as you rarely get to see the Academy Award winning actor. Grenier plays the nice guy, little brother hero who spares nothing to save his big brother from his own self-destructive ways. Mikey (Johnathon Schaech of "The Legend of Hercules" and JP (Adrian Grenier of "Hart's War") grew up as big brother and little brother in Biloxi, Mississippi, and they led lives of miserable desperation. One of them relatives who took care of them decided to blast a crater in his face with a shotgun, and Mikey prevented JP from seeing the carnage by sending him off with a fistful of quarters to play video games at a nearby arcade. Mikey has spent his entire life looking out from his little brother. Sometimes, Mikey wasn't the nicest of big brothers, but he came through with his brother despite the circumstances. "Arsenal" chronicles their lives from tweeners to twentysomethings and beyond. JP has always treated his big brother with respect. Now that they have grown up, their fortunes are turned, and JP looks after is wayward brother. Mikey has gotten himself in deep trouble with a local crime magnate, Eddie King (Nicolas Cage of "The Rock"), who uses Mikey. Mikey finds himself in debt to Eddie, and Eddie wants Mikey to conspire with him to get $350-thousand dollars in ransom money from JP. You see, JP has been fortunate enough to start his own construction business, and he has become wealthy enough to marry and have a child. Meanwhile, Mikey has descended into oblivion, and he finds himself cooperating reluctantly with Eddie to stage a kidnapping to get JP's money. At the same time, JP mounts his own search from his big brother and relies of advice from a local Biloxi Police Department Detective, Sal (John Cusack of "Grosse Pointe Blank"), when he learns that Eddie has his brother. Moreover, Eddie has warned JP that he must not contact the authorities, or he will kick Mikey. Mind you, JP isn't the only guy into trouble up to his neck. As it turns out, Eddie has gone out-of-bounds with his kidnapping and ransom caper, and a member of the New Orleans' mob, his own brother Buddy King (Christopher Coppola of "Torch"), rolls into town to kill him. Buddy doesn't get away with killing Eddie, because Eddie turns the tables on Buddy and kills him! Later, Mikey escapes from Eddie, but he doesn't get far. This prompts sleazy Eddie into abducting Mikey's teenage daughter and making her a part of the kidnapping and ransom deal. Were this not enough to add to JP's problems, he discovers that his business manager has secretly gone behind his back and invested money into renovating houses to earn JP more money. Director Stephen C. Miller and freshman scriptwriter Jason Mossberg has fashioned a heartfelt saga about brothers helping themselves into a credible dramatic thriller that doesn't rely on exploitation elements. JP discovers something about himself that he had never realized. He doesn't shirk his responsibilities to Mikey and Mikey's dysfunctional family. Instead, he steps up to the plate and does the only thing that he knows in spite of the chance that he could die and leave his wife and daughter in jeopardy. Things start slowly, but the action picks up when Mikey reacquaints himself with Eddie King. Grenier makes a believable little brother who refuses to back down, while Johnathon Schaech is simply brilliant as the mischievous big brother.

slcoolj66 I have to write one this that everyone is missing in the reviews.The make up!!! This really isn't a bad movie but don't expect anything more than a new movie with a plot. Very good effort from all the actors and Cage would had done a better job if he played his normal cocaine character in this movie. That and the blood wigs and very noticeable fake facial hair is what destroyed this movie. He was slightly to much in terms of acting and his costume design was ridiculous. That's all that's bad. Cage and make up on the cast. Perhaps say no to ridiculous make up guys when staring in movies. Have some dignity

alanpgini Call it a brother love, blue collar descends to crime collar movie. Cusack and Cage obviously slummed to do this. If blue collar life now equals drugs and one or less parents, lets hear it for Hollywood stereotyping. I can see why Cusack maybe had to do this. He isn't seen much anymore. But Cage still seems to be working. The whole reason for this movie, is a big question mark. Is it to feature this new actor Grenier? Who knows? The script tries for Tarentino and fails. The Grenier character, J.P., somehow has unexplained combat skills, even though he just owns a construction company. His business partner has a neck brace on later into the movie, but that is never explained, just inferred. And the brothers get away with what they get away with at the end without, well, any explanation at all. Is it worth the watch? Only if there isn't anything better to watch. Or if you have anything better to do Cage's and Cusack's presence are what no doubt will lead people to watch this. But you will be disappointed if you want to see something up to the level of these stars.

Bob Rutzel Crime boss Eddie King (Nicolas Cage) kidnaps Mikey (Jonathon Schaech). Mikey's brother JP (Adrian Grenier) turns to Detective Sal (John Cusack) for help. JP has his work cut out for him going against Eddie King's thugs. This is one of the most violent movies I have seen in a long time. Let me add that most of the violence was totally unnecessary. Maybe the movie should have been titled Blood Bath. There really should be a stronger term than "cringe-worthy." (There is) Most of the story involves brothers Mike and JP. We see them as kids and later as adults. JP owns a construction company and Mike or Mikey, a former Marine with Bad Conduct Discharge, is someone always out of work. Oh, we do see Nicolas Cage as Eddie King, a true out-of-control (Whack-job comes to mind easily) small time crime boss. I doubt that the Nicolas Cage Impersonators found anything of value in Cage's performance. We didn't. He was almost unrecognizable with a very bad wig and some kind of grotesque extension on his nose. We see very little of John Cusack as Detective Sal who is just there to give advice to JP as to how to get his kidnapped brother back. We have to ask why was he in this? However, the acting all around was okay, It is just too violent when there is a beating scene.Going to say that Nicolas Cage and John Cusack are the notables in here as you don't see much of them. Hey, I saw the names and rushed to rent the DVD. Hey, we all make mistakes. (4/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes.