Monday 11 August 2008

No.13 : War Made Easy (2007)


War Made Easy at the IMDb

This film falls squarely into the category of films that I wouldn’t normally watch unless it fell under the scope of some madcap movie watching quest. That isn’t a bad thing necessarily and I have unearthed a few gems under these circumstances.

Sadly on this occasion the first instinct was correct and the film was a complete waste of 80 minutes of my rapidly depleting life. It’s basically a long lecture on the bleeding obvious against a backdrop of stock footage. Added to the misery is that the narration is done by Sean Penn who’s own views are widely known, a situation that doesn’t lead you to believe that you are getting a balanced picture.

The general point is that for the past 50 years US presidents have used the same tactics to justify going to war. These include demonising their target and preaching peace whilst having an aggressive agenda. To justify this patently obvious argument a single talking head is employed, who talks us through a clearly jaundiced position. How a balanced view can be achieved with only one opinion on show isn’t addressed and this only serves to reinforce the feeling that the creator’s position is being rammed down your throat.

I doubt if the targets would deny much of what they are accused of. Clearly P.R. spin is prevalent in all news and press but what do they expect? Have the dictators and madmen carry on unopposed? I’m not naïve enough to believe everything I’m told but I also don’t need a documentary to tell me the government may angle things in their favour.

The background footage of wars and carefully edited clips added to the feeling of bad taste that this left wing propaganda left behind. No entertainment or insight just a lot of spin from people who set out to expose the very same thing in others.

Best Bit : The end credits

‘W’ Rating : 5/23

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