Trying To Wring Entertainment Out Of A Quagmire In 'War Machine'
War Machine, a Netflix production based on a book about the drawn-out U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, suffers from a one-note Brad Pitt performance and a frustrating lack of focus.
Afghanistan has been dubbed the "graveyard of empires" for punishing the hubris of powerful invaders, but eight years after the 9/11 attacks lured American forces to Afghanistan, it had become more like a purgatory. With anything like a clear-cut victory long off the table and the "coalition of the willing" whittled down to half-hearted, qualified commitments from U.S. partners abroad, the mission had lapsed into dangerous inertia. The new President, Barack Obama, was
