WAR ON EVERYONE

UK, 2016, 97 minutes, Colour.
Michael Pena, Alexander Skarsgaard, Theo James, Tessa Thompson, Stephanie Sigman, Caleb Landry Jones, Malcolm Barrett.
Directed by John Michael Mc Donagh.

You would definitely have to be in a particular frame of mind to go to see War on Everyone – because the screenplay goes to war on customary and expected values, especially in a police force. This is very tongue-in-cheek material and many viewers may not like the taste.

The writer-director, John Michael Mc Donagh, has a British and Irish background (and is not afraid to target both sensibilities in dramatising eccentric characters and what they have to say and do). He created a strong impression with The Guard, a serious and comic look at an Irish policeman, and difficulties with the letter of the law and with corruption. This is definitely the case with the American policeman here. But then, he made a huge impression with his film about the priest targeted by a victim of sexual abuse, Calvary. Advertising, surprisingly, referred to this film as a comedy but most audiences responded to it very seriously, especially with Brendan Gleeson’s performance as the priest.

This film seem worlds away from Calvary.

The setting is Albuquerque New Mexico, and our two “heroes” Terry and Bob, played by Alexander Skarsgaard and Michael Pena, are continually in trouble from their superior, Paul Reiser, because of their unorthodox way of policing (which includes influencing the law and is not above money on the take). Terry has sexual problems but finishes up having a good relationship with a stripper, Stephanie Sigman. Bob, on the other hand, is a family man, a most congenial wife, Tessa Thompson, two boys, one of whom is definitely overweight and the other sometimes slow but, while he is critical of them, he is often a doting father. He seems the least likely of renegade police officers.

One day they are in a museum and realise that a bunch of criminals have gathered there and are planning a big robbery. They check on their contacts, especially an African- American man, Reggie, just out of jail who has a nonchalant Irish friend. Snorting cocaine is involved – a lot of it and by all.The robbery takes place fairly quickly but most of those who perpetrated are found dead, except for Reggie who was the getaway driver.

So, just when least expecting it, the action transfers to Iceland, impressively photographed with snow and landscapes as well as some details of Rejkavik. It is here that money exchanges hands and our ‘heroes’ go back to Albuquerque to see what more they can extract.

The further complication is an English Lord, into drugs and sex as well as money, played by Theo James. There is also an androgynous barkeeper who is in contact with the Lord but is pursued in a huge chase by Terry and Bob.

It doesn’t spoil anything to say that it is all building up to a confrontation between everyone and there is no doubt as to who will win the day and return to the hot spring spa in Iceland.

Audiences who enjoy heavy irony, that has a touch of spoof and satire and the touch of lawlessness is really the target audience for War on Everyone.


1. Spoof, satire? American behaviour and attitudes? Morality? Right and wrong?

2. The director, his writing, his films, his Irish and British background (and his characters from those countries, the dialogue, style)?

3. New Mexico settings, the city of Albuquerque, ordinary homes, apartments, police precincts? The race club? Nightclubs and strip joints? Posh hotels? The contrast with Iceland, the landscapes, the city and its ordinariness, the spa?

4. The cast, the different backgrounds?

5. The musical score, the range of songs, especially those of Glen Campbell, the Clash?

6. Important for the audience not to take the story and characters too seriously? Amoral… Yet? Their anti-racist stances? Terry and sex, venereal disease? Bob, bespectacled, the family, the two sons and his treatment, relationship with his wife? Murders, corruption? Bribes, manipulation – but also something of heroes?

7. The superintendent, lashing them verbally, threats for suspension, their carefree responses, his growing exasperation, the solving of the crime?

8. Intellectual aspects of the screenplay, discussions of philosophy, Simone de Beauvoir and the bets? The intellectual and witty humour? Jokes about Iceland? The variety of vocabulary and its use, meanings, philosophical discussions, arguing the presence of the chair? The surreal tone?

9. Terry and Bob as friends, the different characters, the values, right and wrong, good and bad, fighting crime? Terry and thrush? The reckless driving, bashing cars? Bob, at home, restrained? Yet finding Reggie, indulging in the cocaine, the driving, the cash deal? An odd couple?

10. Bob’s wife, accepting the reality, discussions about the quotations? His sons, the fat one, the computer games, the disguises as daredevils?

11. The visit to the museum, taking the photos, the gathering of the criminals, their planning the robbery? The race track, the English lord and his drug injections, his aristocratic name and manner? At the track, the horses and the interviews with the jockey? Tracking down Reggie, getting out of jail, his being a Quaker and anti-violence? The Irish friend, the repartee? The cocaine, the money deal? Finding Delores, her work as a stripper, home? Their talking, Terry and the attraction, the relationship, moving in?

12. The plan for the robbery, the deaths of the participants? The escape of the driver? The superintendent and his wanting to know how they knew? The information from the Irishman? The trip to Iceland?

13. Birdwell, his friendship with the English lord, effeminate, androgynous? At the track, running the club, his answers to the police, the two confronting him, running, the elaborate chase, the shootings, the injury to his eye, hospital, released?

14. Going to Iceland, the beauty of the landscapes, standing in the centre of town and expecting to find Reggie, his being black? The small population? The interrogation, the explanation of his deal with the Lord, the amount of cash received? Their taking half?

15. The return to Albuquerque, with the Irishman, giving him his commission, getting the information about the Lord? His being taken, interrogated, the Samurai sword and his beheading the Irishman?

16. The scene with the stabbed man in the house, his wife and her grief, the young son, running away, picking him in the street, Terry taking him in, with Delores, home, at the pool?

17. The buildup to the confrontation, the English Lord and his sexual threesome, walking through the hotel, his thugs? Terry and Bob confronting him? All the guns, the shooting, the deaths, Bob and his vest? The death of the Lord?

18. Everybody in Iceland, at the spa? Their amoral ending – the blend of the humour, the spoof on the satire?