War Machine (2017) Review

A film looking into the politics of War with a very serious feel as well as a comedy approach to lighten the mood at times.

⭐️⭐️

Glenn McMahon, leaps in like a rock star to command NATO forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by a journalist’s no-holds-barred exposé. He seemed to be totally in his own world and not wanting to take responsibility for his actions, doing pretty much whatever he wanted during the time in Afghanistan. He is supposed to be trying to stop the war yet finds himself under the most attack, which I thought was pretty interesting in terms of the people who have to make the tough decisions.

I was actually blown away by Brad Pitt in this film, which is something I have not thought about him for years. Great to see that he can still more than deliver amazing performances. Even better when you think that this film is a Netflix original so not a cinematic release. While it was not the best film ever you can appreciate what Pitt does and how alone he is at times, even with some well-known actors alongside him, they don’t really reach his level of performance.

The music used in different scenes was something that I found to be a standout attribute of this film. It set the tone and the mood so well from start to finish, it also broke the tension at times and the song choice was rather amusing. It makes you wonder and question what has gone on in the recent wars that both the US and UK have sent troops across to be part of, not that I have a huge amount of knowledge on that subject area.

I’m guessing this won’t have a huge audience and the fact that Pitt is in the film will be a draw for many, myself included in that in all honesty I probably wouldn’t have watched the film if he wasn’t the lead. But I guess that is a pretty standard thing with a lot of the Netflix Original features which is why we have seen a rise in bigger Hollywood actors being in them.

Overall though the film is a difficult watch in terms of it being different and that is not meant in a good way at all really. Too different, although I did like the quirky nature of how the music was put into the scenes. Subject matter is done in a rather dry way.