Pretty good, missed opportunities

Rating: 7/10 (29 May 2017)

This movie is far from perfect but the good points outweigh the bad. The acting is good all around. Ben Kingsley as Karzai was particularly good. Brad Pitt's General McMahon (McChrystal) was a caricature but still compelling. There is no shortage of films on the absurdity of war. That message was overdone here and far too predictable. For me the biggest problem is that the filmmakers didn't know who should be the target of the satire. In the end I think they settled on the general and his entourage but they also didn't want to make their star appear too unsympathetic so the satire is VERY light. The politicians mostly get a free pass too. Obama could use some criticism for his handling of foreign policy but he's off limits for the most part.