In July of 2010, an article appeared in Rolling Stone that effectively ended the military career of United States Army General Stanley McChrystal, the commanding general in Afghanistan. The article found McChrystal and his staff critical of then President Barack Obama and caused a media frenzy for a solid week as pundits debated whether or not McChrystal acted unprofessionally. McChrystal tendered his resignation one day after the article was released online, the author of the article — the late Michael Hastings — expanded it into a book, The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan, and the rest is history. And now it’s entertainment, too.
Netflix, who may or may not make real movies depending on who you ask at Cannes, will release War Machine later this month. Animal Kingdom director David Michôd helms this satire, presented as fictionalized take on McChrystal and his unconventional tactics. Brad Pitt plays the McChrystal-inspired Gen. Glen McMahon, “a successful, charismatic four-star general who leapt in like a rock star to command NATO forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by his own hubris and a journalist’s no-holds-barred expose.” In addition to Pitt, the film features Emory Cohen, RJ Cyler, Topher Grace, Anthony Michael Hall, Anthony Hayes, John Magaro, Scoot McNairy, Will Poulter, Alan Ruck, Lakeith Stanfield, Josh Stewart, Meg Tilly, Tilda Swinton and Ben Kingsley.
There’s a new trailer for War Machine, and it’s appropriately quirky and fast-paced, although Pitt seems to be doing a weird imitation of the voice he used in Inglourious Basterds for some reason. Check it out below.
In a film for our times, writer-director David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) recreates a U.S. General’s roller-coaster rise and fall as part reality, part savage parody – raising the specter of just where the line between them lies today. His is an anti-establishment, pro-soldier exploration in the form of an absurdist war story of a born leader’s ultra-confident march right into the dark heart of folly. At the story’s core is Brad Pitt’s sly take on a successful, charismatic four-star general who leapt in like a rock star to command NATO forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by his own hubris and a journalist’s no-holds-barred expose. War Machine addresses the debt we owe to soldiers to question the purposes to which they are being directed.
War Machine arrives on Netflix May 26.