Is war absurd or the people who run them?

Rating: 6/10 (22 June 2017)

Admittedly I think Brad Pitt's character roles can border on brilliant (Burn After Reading, Inglourious Basterds) or self important. So what happens when he plays a self important general?
War Machine takes a look at the war in Afghanistan with a twisted perspective we can only hope is a farce. But as you watch and consider what we hear and think of other General-In-Charge films (Patton) it becomes all too real. Brilliant writing might go unnoticed by many and the deadpan play of characters hell bent to serve a purpose in the absurdity of the world of politicians running wars. Pitt's general sums it up, "we must avoid killing at all cost. We can't help them and kill them at the same time."
Like the war which has meandered over the years, the movie gets lost along the way. The film does well showing desperation of people caught in situations they can't control, the war and political opinion, and situations we think we can control, but can't. Illustrated by the awkwardness of the general's marriage. Meg Tilley, as the general's wife, brilliantly underplays the absurdity and desperation of a marriage where the betrothed see each other 30 days a year.
Bear through it, as they must, to get to the last act of the film. It is worth it. The narrator sums up how we all feel at the end. But I won't tell you here, put on you're snarky attitude and watch.