Review of War Machine (2017) by Notcold — 26 May 2017

Everyone is so divided about a film, which seems not to treat itself as seriously, as it is seen by many. Yeah, it tries a silly "war is bad" message (as if a sane person wouldn't know that already), but I believe it's better to see it as a story about delusions, albeit a goofy one.

It is because this movie's weakest parts are the serious ones: Narrator, a Rolling Stones journalist, who uncovered the general's misconducts, cannot stop himself from being a pretentious know-it-all; a german official, played by Tilda Swinton, has some good points, which completely miss the audience in a chaotic confrontation between her and the main character, which initiate his, slightly too abrupt, fall into despair.

But if you forgive those, you'll be amazed by how funny and witty this film can be. You might end up liking the main character, hoping he'll succeed at his impossible quest and feel bad, when he loses.

It would be a bad feeling, right? He's a bad guy and they make him look cool, which makes them bad, right? Maybe if a film doesn't show war as a bad thing in every aspect, it deserves negativity. For me the intertwining of cool, likable, incredibly stupid and just plainly wrong makes this film something I'd absolutely recommend to anyone, just try not to overthink it (I know I probably am).