A messy war satire

Rating: 5/10 (26 May 2017)

I really appreciate the story War Machine tells, which sheds light on the hypocrisy and surrealism around the role of the US in the Afghani war. But the attempt of making a humorous sidelong glance on war, just didn't really work out. At the same time, the movie gradually moves into a more emotional territory, which honestly makes it more confusing than appealing in contrast to the satire-elements.
War Machine is a movie I almost like. There are some really good scenes, the premise of the movie itself is good in theory, but the result just isn't that appealing. The mixture of drama and satire just makes the movie insignificant and messy.
The trailers indicated that this would be a good dark comedy. But it's hard to call it that. It certainly gets dark at times, and it's genuinely funny at other times, but it never hits both at the same time.
Brad Pitts performance is very good, I would say one of the better in his career. I did find his character a bit exaggerated and caricatured though, but him and the cast around him is generally quite good.