Doesn't Know What it Wants to Be

Rating: 5/10 (31 May 2017)

If ever there was a reason to love Netflix, War Machine, a modest, character driven satire about the War in Afghanistan would on paper be a good one. After all, theaters are just now starting to feel the diminishing returns of a studio system feeding itself solely on franchise entertainment. So its nice to have an outfit out there that is willing to make a "socially relevant" film, bolstered by a name actor, isn't selling itself as obvious Oscar-bait and isn't burning a fortune doing it. Now if only the movie was good.
War Machine tells the modest rise and tragic fall of General Glen McMahon (Pitt); an ambitious an foolhardy Army functionary who is given the insurmountable task of ending the War in Afghanistan. To accomplish this, McMahon assumes, quite incorrectly, that the sheer willpower of the world's most powerful Army, and the flaccid abilities of his tight-knit entourage will be enough to bolster the impossible (a successful counterinsurgency). Unfortunately for the General, nothing is truly fair in love and war. He bristles uncomfortably under the confines of coalition bureaucracy and civilian middle management while slowly coming to believe he's entitled to so much more.
War Machine wants to be two things at once and somehow manages to be neither. It wants to be a sharp-witted black comedy a la In the Loop (2009), while still being a somewhat nuanced character piece about an Army lifer whose hubris is mismatched by the times. Standing in the way in both cases is Brad Pitt's performance who stands apart from the film in its own little orbit. It's an entertaining performance that conjures memories of George C. Scott's Patton (1970) and Thierry Lhermitte's performance in The French Minister (2013). Yet there's nothing really tethering him to the rest of the film. When it plays for the laughs - Pitt goes introspective. When the film goes gonzo - Pitt turns into a caricature.
Additionally the humor never feels like it's reaching the absurd heights it should; though part of that may just be the sign of the times. The film is based on "The Operators" by Michael Hastings, which itself is based on the firing of Army General Stanley McChrystal. With that in mind, its easy to see why the movie's tone is measured, assured and some may say boring, while broad comedic set-pieces are nowhere to be found.
Yet while the tone is boring and provides only toothless satire, the pacing is all over the place. One minute we're knee-deep in a weaksauce version of House of Cards (2013-Present), the next minute we're in a frantic Sgt. Bilko (1996) routine with the most torpid ensemble in recent memory. For what it's worth, Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace, RJ Cyler et al. seem to be going for nuance as McMahon's entourage of dog robbers yet the editing guarantees that you'll get nothing more out of the characters outside of Scoot McNairy's piddly narration. What draws more attention and arguably more ire are the actors who play real people; namely Ben Kingsley as an ineffectual President Karzai and Reggie Brown who plays President Obama like Wilson from Home Improvement (1991-1999). Their inclusion stops just short of making the entire ordeal look like a failed TV pilot.
War Machine ultimately feels like a "Beetle Bailey" comic strip without a punchline. The satire is impoverished, the pacing is all over the place and Brad Pitt's, conceited and glib performance leaves little room for anything else to take root. Deadpan - more like dead in the water.