It was released on Netflix on May 26, In the summer of , four-star General Glen McMahon, having won renown for his effective leadership in Iraq , is sent to Afghanistan to prepare an assessment so that the government can end the ongoing war. McMahon and his staff, particularly his right hand man Major General Greg Pulver, are united in their belief that the war can be won, and decide to recommend that President Obama authorize a surge of 40, additional troops to secure Helmand province in order to stabilize the country.
However, the Secretary of State informs McMahon that his report will not be reviewed until after the upcoming presidential election. He arrives, however, in civilian clothes as he would rather not wear his uniform, which he has in a bag. Meanwhile, McMahon is informed that, due to alleged irregularities in the counting of votes, a runoff election will have to be held, delaying the review of the assessment further. Fed up, McMahon secretly leaks the assessment to the Washington Post and organizes an interview with 60 Minutes , during which he reveals that, in the last seventy days, he has only been granted one meeting with the President.
In response, the government announces that they will send 30, troops to Afghanistan, and that all U. To gather the remaining 10, troops needed for his strategy to work, McMahon and his men head to Paris to negotiate with the other coalition nations. In Paris, McMahon learns that the President is passing through, and wishes to meet with him.
War Machine review – Brad Pitt goes over the top in Afghan war satire
The ambassador to Afghanistan warns McMahon that he needs to understand his position: The President, however, merely shakes his hand as he climbs aboard Air Force One due to time constraints, and McMahon and his staff attend a dinner in McMahon's honor, accompanied by Rolling Stone writer Sean Cullen, who intends to write a feature story about his performance for an upcoming issue.
The next day, during their anniversary dinner, McMahon's wife Jeanie confronts him about how much time he's spending fighting abroad instead of being with his family back home. While en route to Berlin with McMahon's staff to continue negotiations, Cullen observes their behavior and concludes that they are arrogant and seem to care little about the growing public perception that the war is costly and wasteful.
At a conference to discuss his strategy, McMahon is confronted by a German official who is skeptical of his approach and suggests that McMahon's plans would only lead to more losses. Nevertheless, both the Germans and the French agree to furnish the troops needed for his planned offensive, codenamed " Operation Moshtarak ", to begin, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai 's approval.
The operation launches, but soon runs into trouble when several civilians are accidentally killed against McMahon's instructions. When he holds a public meeting to explain the incident, the crowd grows hostile and demands that he and his troops leave. Worse, McMahon learns that Cullen's article has been published, and paints a negative picture of him and his staff as openly speaking against the President and mishandling the war effort. Knowing that he will be fired for his actions, McMahon returns to Washington and later takes a job as a civilian consultant.
In the aftermath, Cullen ponders the consequences of his article, noting that he wished McMahon's fall would finally convince the government to stop invading foreign countries and end the war in Afghanistan. Instead, however, the government simply assigns a new general to replace McMahon. On April 27, , it was announced that New Regency and Plan B Entertainment had acquired the film adaptation rights to the best seller non-fiction book The Operators by Michael Hastings. On June 8, , Netflix acquired the distribution rights to the film which was re-titled War Machine , while Ian Bryce also came on board to produce the film along with others.
On August 4, , Emory Cohen was cast in the film to play a member of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's civilian press adviser. Principal photography on the film began in mid-October in London. War Machine 's uneven execution keeps its fact-based story from cleanly hitting its targets, but those flaws are frequently offset by sharp wit and solid acting.
War Machine | Netflix Official Site
Pitt's ridiculous, wildly over-the-top performance somehow keeps it all together. War Machine is a failure, but could perhaps have been a great film if it had tried a little harder to pick a tone. It's funny and sad and weary and wise, which feels just about right for now. It's sort of fascinating to watch Pitt aim for something close to George C. There's just no consistency throughout its two-hour examination of the behind the scenes machinations of the military-industrial complex. Wildly absurdist, it works well as a satire of militaristic bureaucracy, but it's very inconsistent in its voice.
It's surprising that it was written and directed by the same person because it feels like it was crowdsourced. It's hard to get past the feeling that there had to be a better movie there.
You walk away from War Machine with more questions than answers, unfortunately. Though the real-life events of McChrystal and his team are ripe for satire, War Machine gets too caught up in the fog of war to give its audience anything to latch onto. It's based on a real US Army general, and focuses on the latter part of his career during the end of the war in Afghanistan. He's desperately searching for victory in a war more complicated than simply "winning" or "losing".
Brad Pitt is a rather odd casting decision He brings out rocky and inflexible facial expressions and hand gestures that were apparently a part of the general's look. The character's over-the-top mannerisms and speaking style combined with the very presence of an actor like Brad Pitt sometimes disconnected me from the experience. The movie moves along quite slowly for a war film, only gaining speed in the last act. It all really comes down to how interested you are in seeing Brad Pitt in such a quirky role.
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Other than that, you probably won't find much reason to stick around. Although Netflix has been crushing it with their television shows, their feature film category has been fairly slim pickings, which is odd, due to the fact that a television show usually takes more time to complete, depending on the content. War Machine is the latest in their feature film category, and while it does show promise in getting big stars attached to some of their releases, I still think they have a while to go before they start to shut down movie theatres.
This is a premise that had a lot of promise, but the ultimate end result is pretty bland in my opinion. This film could've easily been a theatrical release, but this is exactly where it belongs, because I truly think it will receive more viewership this way. Here is why I believe War Machine to be a try-hard version of mediocrity. As the film follows the true ish rises and falls of Gen. Glen McMahon Brad Pitt , the film sets itself out to be a self-aware parody of the story at hand. The way this premise is told is very relevant to our society today, but the film itself teeters on unwatchable at times, due to its very dry and boring pace.
To add to that statement, there are several moments where it feels like a parody, when it's actually trying to take itself seriously. The tonal shifts are incredibly off-balance here, making for a very frustrating viewing experience.
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I can accept bizarre tonal shifts most of the time, but the most annoying aspect about this film was Brad Pitt's portrayal of McMahon. I'm a huge fan of Brad Pitt and many of my favourite films have him in it, but there was something very off about his performance here. It was almost as if he was given a character to portray at a birthday party or on Halloween, due to the fact that his expressions and mannerisms were way too over-the-top.
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I'm sure he was given specific instructions on how the real-life general acted, but his portrayal completely took me out of the movie. Sadly, this film feels more like a mediocre Saturday Night Live skit, rather than a dramatic parody, which is what it seemed to be trying so hard to achieve. Never did I feel the need to research the facts, due to the fact that they were the most interesting aspect about this film. I found myself losing interest throughout the majority of this film, but anytime there was a board meeting, court room meeting, or press conference, I was sucked right back into War Machine.
If nothing else, I believe War Machine isn't just a lacklustre film, but a decent little commentary on our lives today. This also serves as a negative, due to the fact that these elements deserved to be presented in a much better film. In the end, there isn't much to praise about this film, due to the fact that you can't really recommend it to anyone. Fans of parodies will be extremely bored as there is not enough comedy and fans of dramas will be conflicted, due to the fact that there is comedy in random areas.
As a film, this doesn't work at all in my opinion, but it may have worked better as a short film thats sole purpose was to be shared around the internet in order to bring awareness about certain issues in our war today. To be honest, this isn't a horrible film, it's just tonally inconsistent and drags on far too long to really enjoy all that much.
Certain messages throughout the film more than make up for the lack of interest, but the film is mediocre at best, which isn't very often. War Machine is a huge disappointment in my eyes, because the trailers intrigued me quite a bit.