2017 Films: #4. War Machine

Streamed on Netflix on June 6th. The film, written and directed by David Michôd, is based on the book The Operators by Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings. The film is a fictional account of the challenges facing General Stanley McCrystal when he took command of Allied forces in Afghanistan in 2009.

Brad Pitt plays the role of General Glen McMahon, who comes into Afghanistan with the deck stacked against him and we follow him as he tries to make changes in an unpopular war in order to turn the tide. McMahon brings with him his entourage if you will. This group consists of General Greg Pulver (played Anthony Michael Hall and loosely based on Michael Flynn), Navy Seal Pete Duckman (Anthony Hayes), Col. Staggart (John Magaro), SGT Dunne (Emory Cohen), UASF SGT Moon (RJ Cyler), Rear Admiral Ball (Daniel Betts), civilian media adviser Matt Little (Topher Grace) and rounding out the group is CPT Badi Basim (Aymen Hamdouchi), McMahon's Afghan military aide.

McMahon knows the deck is stacked against him and he goes about it anyway. He finds disillusioned and tired soldiers out in the field. He pisses off the politicians by asking for more troops. He's been tasked with bringing the war to a conclusion and he's going to do it. Along the way things go a little off the rails and his team ends up talking sh*t about President Obama which lead to his dismissal.

The film doesn't paint a very good picture of things in the Afghan theater. At first I wondered if it was a satire or black comedy as there are some jokes in there aimed at liberals and conservatives. I was also curious as t why Pitt played McMahon like he had a literal stick in his butt. The acting was decent and the story was good but the film just didn't click with me. Was I supposed to feel bad for McMahon? He's given his life to the Army and is now faced with a daunting, probably impossible task. He's married but a little estranged from his wife Jeannie (played nicely by Meg Tilly straight from the "where are the now" island). But I didn't feel bad for McMahon. There was no emotional attachment to him and his team. I felt for the ground troops that he visited and spoke with but nnot him. I felt for his wife. To me, Pitt either didn't try hard enough to nail the part or tried too hard. It's not a bad film but it's not that great. 

2017 Films: #1. Split

February 4th in Chicago, IL. Written and directed by former wunderkind turned "what the hell happened to that guy?" M. Night Shyamalan. To say I was a bit apprehensive about seeing this considering Shyamalan hasn't directed anything good in over 10 years with some notable bombs. But the trailer looked good, my wife and I were already at the theater so we gave it a whirl.

Like most Shyamalan films it is set in Philadelphia and is set around a man with severe personality disorder (James McAvoy) to the tune of 23 distinct personalities. One of the personalities decides to kidnap three teenage girls from the King of Prussia mall parking lot. Two of the girls, Claire and Marcia are popular and Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a bit of a "goth" type. Making me wonder why she was ever even invited to Claire's party after Claire reveals her disdain for her. Luckily, it's Casey that proves to have her wits about her when the trio is brought to the villain's secret hideout. While the kidnapper weirds it up by showing his captive all his personalities (complete with wardrobe changes), his doctor, Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley) is trying to unravel the mess that is her patient and lead her to the missing girls (though she doesn't know that the missing girls are connected). So eventually Shyamalan gives you the big reveal and even tries to ham fist a connection to Unbreakable into the ending.

This was a pretty good film. Solid acting and Shyamalan does a pretty good job with mounting the tension. I wouldn't go so far as to say that he's returned to form but it's a good place to start. There's also a lot of things wrong with this film but I'll let my pals over at Cinema Sins tell yo about it. They do a very good job and I'm 4 months late on it. It's worth seeing.

2016 Films: #38. Fences

February 4th in Chicago, IL. This was the second half of a Saturday double feature. The film is adopted from August Wilson's play of the same name  and is directed by and stars Denzel Washington. The film take place in the late 50's to early 60's and follows the Maxson family as they live their lives in Pittsburgh. Denzel is the patriarch Troy, Viola Davis is Troy's wife Rose,

The film revolves around the trial and tribulations of Troy and his family. We learn that despite Troy's belief in personal responsibility and hard work, he's not the greatest person in the world. He's served time for murder and he's bitter what he perceives as being passed over for a pro baseball career (he was a bit long in the tooth and integration had just started so, there's that). He also used his brother Gabriel's (Mykelti Williamson) pension from his WWII injury that left him mentally impaired to buy a home (though he did have Gabriel live with in the house). He is at odds with this oldest son Lyons (Russell Hornsby) for always borrowing money and chasing his dreams of becoming a musician instead of getting a job (fathers man). Troy also butts heads with his youngest son Cory (Jovan Adepo) about Cory's crazy fantasy about getting a scholarship to play college football. Troy thinks football is not as good as baseball and chides Cory for missing shifts at his job because of football, despite the fact that Cory clears it with his boss. Suffice to say Cory has to give up football.

We learn that Troy isn't a very good guy even with his work ethic. He manages to push those that are close to him a way because deep down, he's a bitter jerk. Rose is pretty much a saint to put up with Troy, especially after it's revealed that he cheated on her and the results of the affair produces a baby girl! Which Rose takes in as her own (seriously, how saintly can you be?)! The fence, which takes Troy years to build but never completes is a metaphor for Troy's life. He never sees anything through and always gets sidetracked. Troy never seems to find peace.

This film is based on a play so it's very heavy in the dialogue department. Solid writing, solid direction and solid acting. This may not be for everyone but I thought Denzell did a nice job behind the camera and delivers yet another great performance. I like it when he plays flawed, less than likable characters.