Directed by Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss, War Game is a live-action simulation of drastic civil unrest. An emergency cabinet huddles within a Dr. Strangelove-style bunker while an election certification turns seriously violent above. The ‘actors’ are nearly all real veterans, politicians, police, and military, given six hours to either start (red team) or stop (blue team) an outbreak of civil violence.
Somewhat like Sucker Punch with tasteful tailoring, there are many different layers and perspectives playing out. There is the game itself, a West Wing-style thriller, and then there are talking heads sequences where some detailed discussion of the legal topics goes on. Finally, a handful of actors have been sprinkled in, the most fun of which is Ralph Brown, he of the Camberwell Carrot in Withnail & I, here channeling a Mandarin-style zealot called the Patriarch.
“The only reason they didn’t use their guns was they weren’t ordered to.”
This is the grim assessment of US Marine Chris Jones, red teamer and an eyewitness to the actual Trumpist riot on Jan 6th. But this take suggests the game is a stretch at times, as the qualifier ‘only’ can not apply to orders for killing your police. For better or worse, though Jan 6 is the blueprint for the simulation. Jones spent two tours in Afghanistan before taking up journalism to cover the riot for a news source in West Virginia, however so he has seen conflict at its nightmare extremes and brings a lot to the table here, role playing as a disgruntled service man.
“…given six hours to either start (red team) or stop (blue team) an outbreak of civil violence. “
His disgust when recollecting it is impressive. He wanted to ‘start swinging’ because the capital is ‘my house.’ But despite his good intentions, this makes him sound rather like what he condemns, which reflects good reporting by Gerber and Moss, instead of just ‘the script.’
Similarly, Gov. Steve Bullock, who here plays a fictional US President Hotham throughout the simulation, delivers a grave warning to the camera about the potential for Presidential abuse of the Insurrection Act. But when he says “appalling misuse,” his face lights up. He might as well be saying, ‘blow job.’ It’s as if the very thought Palpatines his a*s for a second. It is a nice reminder that American politics is for keeps, with stratospheric power and consequence in abundance.
"…a fascinating and dynamic investigation of American politics."
I’m new to the site, so forgive if this is a dumb question – but where can we find this film? I worked in emergency management for a brief time and participated in command post exercises – this film sounds very interesting to me.