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.

"War Machine" is a very recent release from Netflix and the newest movie starring Oscar-nominated actor and Oscar-winning producer Brad Pitt. Most recently, he has been more in the headlines because of his divorce from Angelina Jolie, but here we have something new from him in the field that really counts: the movie industry. The film runs for slightly over two hours and this includes a great deal of credits. Writer and director is David Michôd, the man who is mostly known for the Oscar-nominated "Animal Kingdom", but no doubt a film starring Brad Pitt will exceed the latter in terms of popularity for sure. Pitt has a tendency right now to appear in war-themed films and this one adds to that tendency. Here he plays a renowned army general who is ordered to Afghanistan to "get things right again". Or you could replace that term with another dozen of really vague statements what his task there actually is. It never becomes clear throughout the film, but that is absolutely intended. Basically they do not want him to cause any trouble and show to the outside that they care about the US involvement there and that the best men are in charge, even if their real intentions are clearly different. One example for that is a scene when Pitt's character is instructed why heroine is cultivated instead of cotton.

All in all, this was a fairly good watch I must say. i did not like some of Pitt's other recent military-based stuff, but this one really is more about politics than about the war itself and war movies just aren't really to my liking. Pitt himself gives a performance that is always on the verge of gimmicky, but it is still memorable somehow looking at the character he created. You can never be sure if he is just a tool of the powerful and mighty, a man with a mission, a good guy, a smart guy or the exact opposite and that adds something interesting there. One can certainly not complain about a lack of layers in the central character. Oscar winners Ben Kingsley and Tilda Swinton play important characters for the film, even if they only appear in one scene each. They did make sure that nobody takes away any attention from Pitt, that much is safe. Also as evidence for that it can be said that all the supporting players with a solid deal of screen time are played by actors who really aren't that famous. It is all about Pitt's character from start to finish. The reception I see was probably not good enough to turn this into an awards vehicle in an attempt that he finally gets his first acting Oscar. By the way, this is a Netflix production and the name Pitt in here shows that they really can get everybody they want these days. But if quality films like this one here are the outcome, then I don't mind it at all. As a whole, it was fun to watch Pitt from start to finish and the story was also good enough for me to give this one a thumbs-down, even if I would say that here and there the film could have been cut shorter, perhaps down to 105 minutes. Nothing too bad, however, go see it.

"War Machine" is one of those movies that we regret to have spent time watching even on video. The IMDb hype associated to the names of Brad Pitt and a long list of cameos convince the viewer that watching this awful film would be worthwhile. Brad Pitt is a caricature of actor and recalls Jeff Bridges speaking in many of his last works. There are some witty and ironic criticism to the American invasions, especially in the Afheganistan, but maybe this is the only funny joke. In the end, the king is naked but very few people sees it, and maybe this is the reason of this long and boring film is so overrated. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "War Machine"