War Machine (film)
War Machine | |
---|---|
Directed by | David Michôd |
Written by | David Michôd |
Based on | The Operators by Michael Hastings |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Dariusz Wolski |
Edited by | Peter Sciberras |
Music by | |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Netflix |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 122 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $60 million[1] |
War Machine is a 2017 American satirical war comedy film written and directed by David Michôd and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Michael Hall, Anthony Hayes, Topher Grace, Will Poulter, Tilda Swinton, and Ben Kingsley. Based on the nonfiction book The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan by Michael Hastings, it is a fictionalized version of the events in the book based on United States Army General Stanley McChrystal.[2]
The film was released on Netflix on May 26, 2017.
Plot
In the summer of 2009,
He is given wide latitude to write it, on the sole condition that he not request more troops.McMahon and his staff, particularly his right hand man Major General Greg Pulver, are united in their belief that the war can be won, and decide to recommend that
Captain Badi Basim, a member of the
In response, Obama announces that he will send 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, but that all U.S. and coalition forces in the country will leave in 18 months, infuriating McMahon and his staff for telegraphing America's Afghan strategy to the Taliban in Afghanistan. To gather the remaining 10,000 troops needed for his strategy to work, McMahon and his men head to Paris to negotiate with the other coalition nations.
In Paris, McMahon learns that the President is in Denmark and wishes to meet with him. The ambassador to Afghanistan warns McMahon that he needs to understand President Obama's position: if McMahon continues to anger the President, he will be fired for insubordination. The President, however, merely shakes McMahon's hand as he climbs aboard Air Force One, supposedly due to time constraints. McMahon and his staff attend a dinner in McMahon's honor, accompanied by Rolling Stone writer Sean Cullen, who intends to write a feature story about his performance for an upcoming issue. The next day, during their wedding anniversary dinner, McMahon's wife Jeanie confronts him about how much time he's been spending fighting abroad instead of being with his family back home.
While en route to Berlin with McMahon's staff to continue negotiations, Cullen observes their behavior when "out of country" and concludes that they are arrogant, seem to care little about the growing public perception that the war is costly and unwinnable, and hold civilian leadership in contempt. At a conference to discuss his strategy, McMahon is confronted by a German official who criticizes the war and McMahon's strategy. Nevertheless, both the Germans and the French agree to furnish the troops needed for McMahon's planned offensive, codenamed "Operation Moshtarak", to proceed, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai's approval.
The operation launches, but soon runs into trouble when several civilians are accidentally killed. When McMahon holds a public meeting with locals to apologize for the incident and explain that the U.S. is fighting the war for the benefit of Afghans, the crowd grows hostile and a local community leader asks McMahon and his troops politely yet firmly to leave.
McMahon later learns that Cullen's article has been published, and realizes it paints a negative picture of him and his staff as openly speaking against the President and mishandling the war effort. The President calls McMahon to Washington. Knowing that he will be fired for his actions, McMahon returns to Washington and later takes a job as a civilian consultant.
In the aftermath, Cullen ponders the consequences of his article, noting that he wished McMahon's fall would finally convince the government to stop invading foreign countries and end the war in Afghanistan. Instead the government simply assigns a new general to replace McMahon.
Cast
McMahon's Entourage
- West Point and Yale University,[7]brought in to bring a resolution to the conflict in Afghanistan.
- Anthony Hayes[8] as Lieutenant Commander Pete Duckman, a Navy SEAL and member of McMahon's staff
- body man
- RJ Cyler as USAF Tech Sergeant Andy Moon, information technology support assistant[10]
- Daniel Betts as USN Rear Admiral Simon Ball, McMahon's Senior Public Affairs Officer
- Topher Grace as Matt Little, a former lobbyist turned McMahon's civilian media adviser, based loosely on Duncan Boothby[11]
- Anthony Michael Hall as Major General Greg Pulver, ISAF Director of Intelligence,[12] loosely based on Lieutenant General Michael Flynn
- Army Ranger and General McMahon's executive officer[13]
- Aymen Hamdouchi as Captain Badi Basim, a scholarly Afghan National Army officer who becomes General McMahon's aide-de-camp
- Scoot McNairy[14] as Sean Cullen, a cynical journalist for Rolling Stone who accompanies McMahon and his staff and acts as narrator throughout the film, loosely based on author Michael Hastings
- Meg Tilly as Jeanie McMahon, Glen McMahon's wife
U.S. Diplomats
- Sian Thomas as United States Secretary of State Edith May, based on Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Alan Ruck as Lieutenant General Pat McKinnon, United States Ambassador to Afghanistan, loosely based on Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry
- Nicholas Jones as Dick Waddle, loosely based on Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke
- Griffin Dunne as Ray Canucci, a United States Department of State senior official
Politicians
- Ben Kingsley as President Hamid Karzai[15]
- Reggie Brown as President Barack Obama
- Tilda Swinton as a German politician
Combat Marines
- Will Poulter as Sergeant Ricky Ortega, a Marine Corps infantry squad leader[16]
- LaKeith Stanfield as Corporal Billy Cole, a disillusioned Marine and member of Ortega's squad.[17]
- Josh Stewart as Captain Dick North, a Marine Corps officer
Other cast members
- Rufus Wright as British Army Lieutenant Colonel Frank Groom
- Georgina Rylance as Lydia Cunningham, 60 Minutes journalist
- Russell Crowe[18] as General Bob White (uncredited), General Glen McMahon's replacement, similar to David Petraeus
Production
On April 27, 2012, it was announced that
On June 8, 2015, Netflix acquired the distribution rights to the film which was re-titled War Machine, while Ian Bryce also came on board to produce the film along with others.[20] On June 17, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that there had been a budget issue between New Regency and RatPac with producers of Plan B, and thus Netflix had stepped in to buy the distribution rights for $60 million.[1]
On August 4, 2015,
Filming
Release
The film was released on Netflix on May 26, 2017.[26]
Marketing
Brad Pitt visited
to promote War Machine.Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 47% based on 97 reviews, and an average rating of 5.64/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "War Machine's uneven execution keeps its fact-based story from cleanly hitting its targets, but those flaws are frequently offset by sharp wit and solid acting."[28] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a 56 out of 100 score, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[29]
References
- ^ a b McClintock, Pamela (June 17, 2015). "Whoa: Netflix Actually Paid $60M for Brad Pitt's Politically Charged Military Satire". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ^ McGinley, Michael (May 3, 2017). "Brad Pitt Talks Divorce, Quitting Drinking, and Becoming a Better Man". GQ. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on January 21, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
- ^ Grow, Kory (March 30, 2017). "See Brad Pitt Play Runaway General in 'War Machine' Trailer". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 6, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
- The Daily Mirror. Mirror Group Newspapers. Archivedfrom the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
- CBS Television Distribution. Archivedfrom the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
- ^ Penske Business Media. Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ^ Mancini, Vince (May 22, 2017). "Brad Pitt And David Michôd's 'War Machine' Is An Absurd, Tragicomic Home Run". Film Drunk. Uproxx. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
- ^ Penske Business Media. Archivedfrom the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ^ Penske Business Media. Archivedfrom the original on August 7, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
- ^ a b Sneider, Jeff (October 23, 2015). "'Power Rangers' Movie Adds 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl' Star RJ Cyler as Blue Ranger". TheWrap. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
- ^ Penske Business Media. Archivedfrom the original on August 13, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
- ^ Penske Business Media. Archivedfrom the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
- ^ Penske Business Media. Archivedfrom the original on October 14, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
- ^ Penske Business Media. Archivedfrom the original on August 15, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
- ^ Stolek, Jim (August 26, 2015). "Ben Kingsley teaches Patricia Clarkson how to drive in new dramedy". Toronto Sun. Postmedia Network. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
- ^ Penske Business Media. Archivedfrom the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
- ^ a b Sneider, Jeff (August 20, 2015). "'Straight Outta Compton's Keith Stanfield Joins Brad Pitt's Netflix Movie 'War Machine' (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Archived from the original on August 22, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
- ^ Taylor, Drew (May 26, 2017). "Director David Michôd on Why Netflix's 'War Machine' Could Never Be Made at a Studio". Moviefone. MoviePass. Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
- Penske Business Media. Archivedfrom the original on March 2, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- Penske Business Media. Archivedfrom the original on August 10, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
- ^ FOX-Leonard, Boudicca (October 17, 2015). "Brad Pitt looks GREY-t as silver fox on London set of new film War Machine". Daily Mirror. Mirror Group Newspapers. Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- American Media. Archivedfrom the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
- ^ Sheridan, Wade (October 15, 2015). "Brad Pitt's Netflix original movie 'War Machine' to start production in Abu Dhabi". United Press International. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
- ^ a b Arts Life (October 21, 2015). "Quiet Abu Dhabi street transforms into War Machine film set". The National. Archived from the original on September 12, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ^ Arts Life (November 14, 2015). "RAK becomes celebrity zone as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie fly down to the emirate". The National. Archived from the original on August 30, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
- CBS Interactive. Archivedfrom the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
- ^ Panchal, Komal RJ (May 24, 2017). "Brad Pitt is in Mumbai to attend War Machine screening, to meet Shah Rukh Khan". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on May 24, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
- ^ "War Machine (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
- CBS Interactive. Archivedfrom the original on October 16, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
External links
- War Machine at IMDb
- War Machine on Netflix
- War Machine at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Operators by Michael Hastings at Google Books