The Success of War Machine is Spotty but it Provides Some Laughs and Some Genuine Insight to Compensate

Rating: 8/10 (30 May 2017)

*Minor Spoilers Ahead* War Machine starts in 2009 when the Afghanistan conflict was supposed to start winding down. Public support for the war has fallen substantially and previous efforts to clean up Afghanistan by other military generals have been mixed to shoddy. They decide to bring in some new blood and the new commander of the forces Gen. Glen McMahon (Brad Pitt). He's coming off of a successful campaign in Iraq implementing his SNORP principles (the movie doesn't give a detailed explanation but it's alluded to effective resource management and better communication). McMahon genuinely means well and he isn't short on confidence but he doesn't understand the situation he's being placed in. The administration isn't putting him there to win, he's there to minimize collateral damage and clean up the mess. McMahon seems oblivious to this and continues on like he's there to win. Whether this is good or bad, we'll find out.
When the movie begins, it's hard to nail down the tone of the movie. War Machine doesn't have any problem poking fun at how the War in Afghanistan was handled but the movie tries to be funny and yet show the difficulty coalition forces had in trying to secure the area. The narration provides some helpful information and really details how this kind of invasion rarely if ever works. I think War Machine manages to elicit some quality laughs and provide a different take in looking back at the war in Afghanistan but it doesn't always gel evenly. If you look at director David Michod comments about making a schizophrenic movie, it provides a little context to the tonal inconsistency.
Being a dark comedy about this subject, War Machine puts their opinions about the Afghanistan conflict front and centre. It was surprisingly critical of the Obama administration and I was fine with that. But they're take is a little controversial and that's probably contributed to the negative reviews. I liked the fact that they weren't afraid to be critical or to point out some of the ridiculous situations the soldiers were put in. But the movie glosses over any positive effects that the mission might have had. I mean it couldn't have been a unmitigated disaster. I get that this isn't a documentary but I wish they could have at least shown a peek at the other side of the issue.
Brad Pitt's performances seems to be pretty polarizing and I'll admit his performance makes General McMahon seem a little divorced from reality. He's based on real life General McChrystal who was in charge of operations for the U.S. forces in 2010. He was taken down by a Rolling Stone piece that openly showed him criticizing the Obama administration's handling of the situation. I thought he was really funny even if he could have been a little more realistic and he added a lot of small eccentricities to Gen. Glen McMahon that made him interesting to follow. The supporting cast is pretty impressive and I wish some of them had got some more time. Ben Kingsley was great as President Karzai but he's only in a couple of scenes. Tilda Swinton stole the show in her one scene. You have a lot of good actors in supporting roles; Alan Ruck, Daniel Betts and John Margaro come to mind. I also really liked Anthony Michael Hall in his role as Greg Pulver who basically is McMahon's angry #2 officer.
As much as the first act of the movie dips its toes into goofy comedy, the ending of War Machine really brings things to an end on a sombre note. It really drives home the distinct and defeatist nature of what the Afghanistan conflict turned into. The small action scene is intense and the fallout is heartbreaking. I don't always like sad endings but it fit this movie and it was definitely appropriate.
My dad was a big fan of M*A*S*H and while I didn't connect with the show like he did, I had a ton of respect for it. To provide a critical commentary on a real conflict on mainstream T.V. just isn't done and we could use more programming like that. War Machine doesn't have the same bite but the movie does provide some interesting commentary in retrospect. This movie doesn't have perfect balance but between the funnier bits and how they accurately portray the monotony and confusing nature of the Afghanistan conflict, I think they got the job done. War Machine is far from perfect but it has plenty of good moments and as long as your open to a different viewpoint on this war, you could find something stimulating in this.