Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

pstavropoulos This film not only criticizes the war in Afghanistan but the interference of the US in other countries as a whole. Not many Americans will like this one. Unless you are ready to accept someone showing your mistakes. This film is about mankind failing in general. It is about our failure. President Kazai is shown as a joke. War is brutal. Civilians are killed. Europeans are trying to be diplomatic but failing hard at it - they are not with the US on this war but also not against it. Humor is very well inserted and on a high level. Contains a lot of references to real events so if you are not politically up to date you will not get the joke. It is also sad and show as our helplessness at the same time.

someguymarcus With such a great cast, I expected a great movie. Well, have I been wrong.The movie concept was unique, that's for sure. Following a general during operations in Afghanistan could make for a great movie, if properly performed. Unfortunately, War Machine failed to do so. Little to no emotion was used. Every single one of the characters had a very, very curious personality, turning the movie into a freak show right away. At the 5-minute mark I assumed the movie to be a comedy. Yet, after not seeing a single comical seen for thirty minutes, I was confused as to what the purpose of the movie was. For a movie about a war, there was little to no action. General McMaho is portrayed as a quirky, freaky type of person, while at the same time acting as a true hero. It was obvious that the director wanted the viewer to have some mixed feelings, but what he got are confused ones.In short| A waste of budget, of talent and of my time.

Michael Kleen (makleen2) War Machine (2017) stars Brad Pitt as General Glen McMahon, a fictional commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2009. It is a savage parody of General Stanley McChrystal and the U.S. and Coalition War in Afghanistan, based on The Operators (2012) by Michael Hastings, a sleazy reporter for Rolling Stone and BuzzFeed. Hastings' hit piece on General McChrystal in Rolling Stone led to his resignation as Commander of the International Security Assistance Force and retirement from the Army in 2010.The film opens as hard-fighting General Glen McMahon arrives in Afghanistan to whip things into shape and finally win the war. The narrator tells us General McMahon is a soldier's soldier, a West Point and Ranger School graduate who eats once a day, gets four hours of sleep a night, and runs seven miles every morning.His staff includes a civilian press adviser, Matt Little (Topher Grace), X.O. Colonel Cory Staggart (John Magaro), Major General Greg Pulver (Anthony Michael Hall), "tech whiz" Andy Moon (RJ Cyler), Navy Seal Major Pete Duckman (Anthony Hayes), Admiral Simon Ball (Daniel Betts), and Sergeant Willy Dunne (Emory Cohen). Together, they believe they can bring peace and stability to Afghanistan.General McMahon quickly learns he's up against some tougher opponents than the Taliban, including obstinate government officials, reluctant NATO allies, and a hostile press. Even U.S. soldiers, given voice by Marine Corporal Billy Cole (Lakeith Stanfield), are skeptical of their mission and its chances for success. McMahon must use unconventional tactics and the force of his personality to fully implement his grand plan for victory.In the military, commanders are given a high degree of discretion over their troops. They are accustomed to getting what they want and not hearing the word "no." Like Colonel Joshua Chamberlain says in the movie Gettysburg (1993), there's nothing so much like God on earth as a general on a battlefield. So it's easy to see how frustrated generals can be when constantly butting heads with civilian authorities who think they know the general's job better than he does. War Machine artfully and humorously depicts this situation.Every character in War Machine is portrayed authentically, and the actors and actresses perform marvelously. With a few lines, Ben Kingsley, who plays former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, perfectly captures the sardonic indifference of a powerless man supposedly holding a position of power."I am behaving like a leader," he tells McMahon after McMahon urges him to endorse his offensive in Helmand Province. "I am as unavailable to you as your own president." It's a particularly biting insult, considering how President Obama brushed off McMahon on the runway earlier in the film. Moments later, he says, "You have my approval, general. We both know it was never really mine to give. But I thank you for inviting me to participate in the theater of it all." Meg Tilly gives another great performance as McMahon's wife, Jeannie, who has seen her husband less than 30 days a year for the past eight years. Practically strangers, the distance between them is palpable. Yet there is a genuine attempt to remain close and supportive. So many military spouses have gone through a similar experience, particularly at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She puts a human face on the cost of General McMahon's drive to succeed.In the end, General McMahon flies off alone to meet the U.S. President and is forced to resign as a result of negative publicity from an article in Rolling Stone. A new team, led by a tough, hard-fighting general lands in Afghanistan to take his place.In less capable hands, War Machine had the potential to be another Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016) or Lions for Lambs (2007), contemporary critiques of the War on Terror that just come across as rushed and ham-fisted. I haven't read The Operators, so I don't know how closely the film adheres to the book, but writer and director David Michôd nailed it as far as I'm concerned. Hollywood can learn a thing or two from this Netflix production.

siderite It wasn't a movie I enjoyed very much, but it was a good movie. You can feel it in your guts. It's a description of the US operations in Afghanistan, and I had expected a liberal viewpoint that made fun of the mess there. But it wasn't so. It actually showed viewpoints from multiple perspectives.Brad Pitt plays a general, newly appointed to the region in order to "fix things". And he is trying to. He fights bureaucracy, politicians, and insurgents alike in order to get things done. He has a faithful group of subordinates who worship him and help him do whatever he wants. Ironically, his technical approach makes him the enemy of the US administration, which only needs to show they are trying, without actually having to succeed. Ben Kingsley has a few scenes as president Karzai that are ridiculously funny, too. "But I am acting as a leader. I am unavailable", he says in one scene. Hilarious.In the end, one cannot but sympathize with a guy who wants to end the war, militarily or course, by unequivocally winning it, regardless of what human issues are hindering the victory. He has a job to do, even if it's obvious no one wants him to do it. The movie shows how these kinds of "wars" were never meant to be won, even if you had someone actually trying to.Bottom line: A movie is impressive when it manages to portray a US army general as a simple task oriented technician, hired like you would hire a plumber to do a job. It gets even more impressive when it shows how impossible that job really is. And the acting was great. The mood was a little too deadpan for me. It is something that amuses you internally while you wonder why everything is moving so slow. I believe this was deliberate, in order for the viewer to understand a little bit of how slow things are really moving in the real world.