War Machine

Director: David Michôd
Year Released: 2017
Rating: 1.0

Respected General Glen McMahon (Brad Pitt), stationed in Afghanistan, demands more troops from the U.S. government to escalate the "war" (really: invasion) taking place there ... but Obama and company want to tiptoe away from that debacle. It basically pounds the same note over and over again - we shouldn't be there/they don't want us there - and is done in this ineffective "farcical" tone that was better suited for Inglourious Basterds (Pitt unfortunately adopts what I'm guessing is his impression of a "tough guy" voice). I'm normally not a fan of voice-overs, but Rolling Stone journalist Sean Cullen's (Scoot McNairy) running commentary is better than the dialogue. Meg Tilly is a highlight as Pitt's long-neglected wife (where has she been?), as is Ben Kingsley as President Hamid Karzai, who cares more about HDMI cables than his own country.