Genre: Comedy
Directed: David Michod
Stars: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hayes, John Magaro, Anthony Michael Hall, Emory Cohen, Topher Grace, Daniel Betts, Aymen Hamdouchi, RJ Cyler, Alan Ruck, Nicholas Jones, Ben Kingsley, Meg Tilly, Scoot McNairy
Production: Netflix
If ever there was a reason to love Netflix, War Machine, a modest, character driven satire about the War in Afghanistan would on paper be a good one. After all, theaters are just now starting to feel the diminishing returns of a studio system feeding itself solely on franchise entertainment. So its nice to have an outfit out there that is willing to make a "socially relevant" film, bolstered by a name actor, isn't selling itself as obvious Oscar-bait and isn't burning a fortune doing it. Now if only the movie was good.
This is counterinsurgency in a nutshell... |
Join the Army: meet new people, and kill them. |
General Stanley McChrystal |
Yet while the tone is boring and provides only toothless satire, the pacing is all over the place. One minute we're knee-deep in a weaksauce version of House of Cards (2013-Present), the next minute we're in a frantic Sgt. Bilko (1996) routine with the most torpid ensemble in recent memory. For what it's worth, Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace, RJ Cyler et al. seem to be going for nuance as McMahon's entourage of dog robbers yet the editing guarantees that you'll get nothing more out of the characters outside of Scoot McNairy's piddly narration. What draws more attention and arguably more ire are the actors who play real people; namely Ben Kingsley as an ineffectual President Karzai and Reggie Brown who plays President Obama like Wilson from Home Improvement (1991-1999). Their inclusion stops just short of making the entire ordeal look like a failed TV pilot.
War Machine ultimately feels like a "Beetle Bailey" comic strip without a punchline. The satire is impoverished, the pacing is all over the place and Brad Pitt's, conceited and glib performance leaves little room for anything else to take root. Deadpan - more like dead in the water.
Final Grade: F
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