Not an excellent movie but a MUST SEE

Rating: 8/10 (29 May 2017)

A parody of American intervention in Afghanistan, ominously close to reality. Brad Pitt is not at his best but does the job. Ben Kingsley is excellent in a minuscule role, doing one more exotic character which he doesn't even have to rehearse for. Tilda Swinton is excellent in an even more minuscule role.
The film is (painfully) funny, at times (uncomfortably) sidesplitting, very enjoyable. It is a must see because it makes a major contribution helping the general public navigate through years of lies and delusions on Afghanistan and foreign policy generally.
Having said that, an ideological ALERT is called for: Anybody concluding from the movie that all you need to do is get out (of Afghanistan in this case) is in my view missing the intricacies of conflicts within Islam and the complex interaction between Islam and the Western World. That is for leaders with courage and imagination to sort out. This is just a movie review.