Máquina de guerra

Gen. Glen McMahon (Brad Pitt) is no non-sense soldier. He lives a Spartan life often away from his family. He and his team such as the always shouting Greg Pulver (Anthony Michael Hall) are called in to cleanup the Afganistan quagmire. He is told to push the needle and not request for more troops. Instead, he is driven to win and sees his way where everyone else has failed. He uses any means to get his way while not getting his meeting with Obama. He finds President Karzai (Ben Kingsley), an isolated corrupt leader. Media consultant Matt Little (Topher Grace) suggests getting him an article in Rolling Stones.

This dark comedy is too real to be funny. If Strangelove actually happened, the absurd movie would be less fun. One is always reminded that real people died here and there because the character of McMahon is based on a real person. While there are interesting bits, the general sense of this movie is one of tired resignation.

I don't know if it's the Rolling Stones reporter but I'm reminded of Almost Famous. In that movie, the reporter is the protagonist and he's the eyes with which the audience sees the story. The rock star is a subject who is slowly revealed. In this movie, we are given only the narration of reporter Sean Cullen for the most part. He shows up for a limited role later in the movie. McMahon is the protagonist and we're stuck with him for good and for ill.

Of all the characters, the most compelling is the 'confused' Marine Cpl. Billy Cole. His first scene with McMahon is devastating. His face is haunting. What he says resonates more than any other character. In the end, he is a minor character. His other scene is another compelling sequence as his squad goes into a hostile town. Again he is more compelling than anyone else and it is emotionally draining. This movie could have been great but McMahon can't be the protagonist. He is an absurd side character like Karzai in this movie.

It wasn't a movie I enjoyed very much, but it was a good movie. You can feel it in your guts. It's a description of the US operations in Afghanistan, and I had expected a liberal viewpoint that made fun of the mess there. But it wasn't so. It actually showed viewpoints from multiple perspectives.

Brad Pitt plays a general, newly appointed to the region in order to "fix things". And he is trying to. He fights bureaucracy, politicians, and insurgents alike in order to get things done. He has a faithful group of subordinates who worship him and help him do whatever he wants. Ironically, his technical approach makes him the enemy of the US administration, which only needs to show they are trying, without actually having to succeed. Ben Kingsley has a few scenes as president Karzai that are ridiculously funny, too. "But I am acting as a leader. I am unavailable", he says in one scene. Hilarious.

In the end, one cannot but sympathize with a guy who wants to end the war, militarily or course, by unequivocally winning it, regardless of what human issues are hindering the victory. He has a job to do, even if it's obvious no one wants him to do it. The movie shows how these kinds of "wars" were never meant to be won, even if you had someone actually trying to.

Bottom line: A movie is impressive when it manages to portray a US army general as a simple task oriented technician, hired like you would hire a plumber to do a job. It gets even more impressive when it shows how impossible that job really is. And the acting was great. The mood was a little too deadpan for me. It is something that amuses you internally while you wonder why everything is moving so slow. I believe this was deliberate, in order for the viewer to understand a little bit of how slow things are really moving in the real world.

War Machine - A satirical but honest look at the treadmill of war.

First off, Brad Pitt is essentially a caricature in this movie. I kept going back and forth on whether he was brilliant or miserable in his performance. I found myself feeling the same way I did when seeing him in Allied late last year. There are scenes when he is absolutely dialed in to the role and what's going on around him. And there are a handful of scenes where you'd think someone is just reading him his lines off-screen. He's been frustratingly inconsistent these last two outings.

I had no trouble deciphering the performance level of the surrounding cast, as they all came to play. From the big names of Ben Kingsley and Tilda Swinton, to still familiar names of Anthony Michael Hall and Topher Grace, I was impressed. My favorite performance would have to go to one of the smaller roles played by Lakeith Stanfield. I'd seen him earlier this year in Get Out, but he had a better opportunity to shine here as an absolutely emotionally broken marine.

The first half of the film is very quirky and actually has some pretty funny lines. The second half all but abandons the comedic tone and shifts into a full fledged war drama. The end result is satisfying, but that contrast is pretty jarring. It would have been more successful to mix the paint a bit more or just choose one color.

Netflix pulled out the big guns putting up $60 million for the distribution rights to the film. Later this year they are also backing a loose follow up to 2009's Moon (please see this underrated film if you haven't already) and breaking the bank with a $100 Martin Scorsese film with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in 2018. Netflix is quickly changing the game in the world of cinema. Don't be surprised to see the awards shows tweak their rules to allow for streaming content down the road.

So pop some popcorn and reserve your couch to see this film of grandiosity and failure. Not exactly your typical recipe to Netlix and Chill, but I'm not one to judge.

I agree with what many other reviewers say, about it being confusing but still pertinent and that it might go over many viewers' heads because in general many Americans just have no idea that the US is still actively conducting warfare in Afghanistan. I feel like it was a pointed, clear message about our presence there, but that many of us were perhaps expecting another Fury or Inglorious Basterds. Others have spoken about all the characters in the movie, so I won't add anything, but I'm amazed to see that no one has once mentioned Meg Tilly as Gen. Glenn McMahon's wife. I haven't seen Meg act in anything in ages, but this was a terrific and nuanced performance. Male soldiers with fewer lines and less screen time have merited call outs, but really, Meg Tilley was amazing, just as amazing as the wonderful Tilda Swinton or Ben Kingsley. Her eyes never left Brad Pitt, and you could just imagine what their thirty years of marriage must have been like. Her subtle gestures and half-spoken words created a picture of 30 years of unwavering loyalty and devotion to a man she adores and respects, but her face shows how much those often lonely years cost. When she said her final line of, "I'm proud of me too.", I found it thrilling. I hope we see more of her in the future, because she was definitely one of astonishing bright points in this movie.

I watch the movie the day it released. I should say its entertaining and partially funny. I saw lots of people here are very negative about the movie, well, that's a reality of the US/NATO operations in Afganistan!

I like this sentence from the movie: "We cannot help them and kill them at the same time."