It's obviously a satire, but against a horrific background. And it's a slow movie, which seems to be not what most people expected. Also Brad Pitt's performance is questionable, as he plays the general a little too cartoonish for a movie that already starts off with a lot of bizarre and cynical situations.
The whole movie is a nice allegory on how the "yes we can" turned into "what's taking so long", when it comes to the recent U.S. wars. How American idealism collides with the fact that their presence is less glorious WW2 heroism but depressing management of an asymmetric enemy. They are not here to win the war, but to administrate it. And bureaucracy doesn't sell on CNN.
Nothing in this movie ever happened anywhere close to how it's presented, but the over-stylized satire and drama seems to capture the abstruseness of the situation better than a real drama could. I personally enjoyed it.
The whole movie is a nice allegory on how the "yes we can" turned into "what's taking so long", when it comes to the recent U.S. wars. How American idealism collides with the fact that their presence is less glorious WW2 heroism but depressing management of an asymmetric enemy. They are not here to win the war, but to administrate it. And bureaucracy doesn't sell on CNN.
Nothing in this movie ever happened anywhere close to how it's presented, but the over-stylized satire and drama seems to capture the abstruseness of the situation better than a real drama could. I personally enjoyed it.