War Machine (2017)

An idiosyncratic General confronts opposition from enemies, allies, and bureaucrats while leading a massive rebuild operation in Afghanistan.

Director:

David Michôd

Writers:

Michael Hastings (book), David Michôd (screenplay)

Stars:

Brad Pitt, Daniel Betts, John Magaro

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brad Pitt	...	Glen McMahon
Daniel Betts	...	Simon Ball
John Magaro	...	Cory Staggart
Emory Cohen	...	Willy Dunne
RJ Cyler	...	Andy Moon
Topher Grace	...	Matt Little
Anthony Michael Hall	...	Greg Pulver
Anthony Hayes	...	Pete Duckman
Nicholas Maude	...	British Officer
Paolo Gasparini	...	Plotti Balotti
Andrew Byron	...	Vladislav Melnik
Alan Ruck	...	Pat Mackinnon
Nicholas Jones	...	Dick Waddle
Griffin Dunne	...	Ray Canucci
Aykut Hilmi	...	Afghan Bureaucrat

Storyline

A General from the U.S. is sent to Afghanistan to "clean" the situation up after eight years of war in the country. He finds himself amongst tired soldiers and disillusioned politicians eager to leave. In this situation, he feels his mission is to "win" the war, something deemed impossible by everyone around him.

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Plot Keywords:

afghanistan | satire | counter insurgency | foreign affairs | barack obama character | 

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Taglines:

From the producers of the Big Short comes a story about the politics of war.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Pushto

Release Date:

26 May 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Operators

Filming Locations:

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hurwitz Creative,Netflix,Plan B Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie has clear references to the real events took place in between the appointment in 2009 and resignation in 2010 of General Stanley A. McChrystal as the I.S.A.F. commander. (For those who are familiar with that particular period, this movie will give the impression of a humorous documentary, and the background voice of the Rolling Stone Magazine journalist throughout the movie can be said to increase this feeling.)

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Goofs

When the general (and his subs) is asking everyone to vacate individual offices and instead share one big space, one American soldier says that Austria only has 2 men in the war aka "Coalition of the Willing". Austria is a neutral country and was not part to this war.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sean Cullen: [voiceover] Ah, America. You beacon of composure and proportionate response, you bringer of calm and goodness to the world... What do you do when the war you're fighting just can't possibly be won in any meaningful sense? Well, obviously, you sack the guy not winning it and you bring in some other guy. In 2009, that war was Afghanistan, and that other guy... was Glen.

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Connections

Referenced in Late Night with Seth Meyers: Glenn Close/Topher Grace/Low Cut Connie (2018)

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Soundtracks

Poker Face
Written by Lady Gaga (as Stefani Germanotta) and RedOne (as Nadir Khayat)
Performed by Lady Gaga
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd.

User Reviews

Waiting For It To End Like The Real War

Not exactly good, not exactly bad. If you don't have anything else to watch, go for it. It's trying to be funny, but it cant be because of the seriousness of it all. Its like someone wrote a serious war movie, then the script was given to a satirist who just simply couldn't pull it together. The movies narration was meant to be the guiding voice of reason among madness. Unfortunately it was like having a high school student interested in politics give his two cents about the meaning of it all. This movie would have been better released around April fools than Memorial Day weekend.