War Machine

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.

A wonderfully scripted film: engaging, entertaining deadpan, and not the least bit disrespectful, it exhibits the inherent contradictions in war and empire-building--wait, we don't call it that anymore...

Brad Pitt is a charismatic powerhouse in his role as the Glennimal.

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."

This film tells the story of an ambitious army general, who is posted to Afghanistan to run the mission to fight insurgents. It becomes apparent very soon that various parties have not aligned their goals and missions.

"War Machine" tells a story of an enthusiastic man who is stuck in a web of bureaucracies. The story unfolds slowly, and at times it looks like a satirical look at a system that is supposed to serve and protect the public. The cameos are plentiful, making me pleasantly surprised. Though I find the film a little uneventful, I can see that it parallels what exactly is happening in the story to the characters.

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.