OK short political comedy sketch, stretched to two hours

Rating: 4/10 (2 September 2017)

Netflix-produced two-hour satire about the U.S. general (Brad Pitt) sent to Afghanistan to 'clean' the situation up after eight years of war in the country. Nobody around him thinks they can win" anymore, but this is the mission he takes for himself. Also playing Anthony Michael Hall, John Magaro, Topher Grace, Aymen Hamdouchi, Ben Kingsley, Tilda Swinton, Scoot McNairy et al. It's witty at times but often feels more like a overlong political comedy sketch than a proper movie, especially in the first half where voice-over tends to dominate proper" storytelling. War Machine" centres on Brad Pitt's character but this one-man-show won't probably charm many of his fans. I don't think the man has ever done less acting on screen, channeling Gen. Turgidson from Dr. Strangelove" or whatever big-name high-ranking military official pops to your mind while watching. Pitt's one-note performance relies mostly one one or two facial impression which would be OK for Saturday Night Live" skit or something, but it's nowhere near enough for a character carrying a two-hour movie. Based on book by Michael Hastings, written and directed by David Michôd who has shown promise with his earlier work, writing and directing crime dramas "Animal Kingdom" and "The Rover" plus co- writing 2010's cult comedy "Hesher". I would say "War Machine" will not be remembered as his great great follow-up project, but it's also true that I care little about political movies. In this case, the other critics seem to not care much, either. Metacritic's score is 56/100, Rotten Tomatoes's is 53/100. The main problem is that at 122 minutes, it's way too long. Half of that would have been enough. Making it through feels like a chore, not like a biting satire about war.