"The Pentagon Wars" takes a quasi-comedic swipe at the Pentagon and the manner in which it does business. It was funny while still being poignant and potent.

Col. James Burton (Cary Elwes) was sent to the Pentagon as a congressional appointee to oversee the testing of the Bradley tank which had been in the testing and development phase for over fifteen years. General Partridge (Kelsey Grammer) was in charge of the Bradley project, which was plagued with cost overruns and missed deadlines, and he wanted/needed it to be in production ASAP in order to get his bosses off of his back. While Burton wanted to see to it that the Bradley was adequately tested, Partridge wanted it out in the field immediately regardless of what shape it was in. This would become a proxy fight between them which would spill over and involve many others.

This was an excellent production. I've never been in the military, but I do know that the government has an inflated military budget that boggles the mind. "The Pentagon Wars" gives a little insight as to how our military budget gets out of control. The casting was marvelous with Grammer owning his role. He was helped with the likes of Viola Davis, John C. McGinley, Tom Wright, Clifton Powell, and Richard Schiff. This was a find that I'm glad was still on HBO to enjoy.

Members of the Pentagon brass takes a direct hit in this witty Richard Benjamin satire about the efforts of a whistle-blower(Cary Elwes) to test a defective Bradley troop transport/combat vehicle. Kelsey Grammer plays Major General Partridge a wordy, self serving horse's ass. Mocking humor. Supporting cast includes:John C. McGinley, Viola Davis, Tom Wright and director Benjamin plays Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger.

In the mid-1980s USAF Lt. Colonel John Burton is tasked with objectively evaluating the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, a project that has been in development for 17 years. The vehicle started off from a simple design but, due to Army meddling and Committee-Think, it has morphed into something different, something potentially sub-optimal. In the interests of saving the lives of US servicemen, he is determined to do his job as effectively as possible but the powers-that-be want him to simply rubber-stamp the vehicle so that production can begin.

An entertaining satirical look at an actual historic event, the development of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The film is based on Colonel Burton's book "The Pentagon Wars" though large liberties have been taken with many of the details. Well, it is a comedy, remember.

The film does capture well the sort of bureaucracy, meddling and Committee-Think that bedevil all organisations, but government ones the most. How the design of the Bradley changes over time due to these factors is hilarious to watch, but quite true to life.

While these barbs are well-aimed some of the lower-level comedy can be quite silly and cheesy at times. While the idea was to poke fun at the military bureaucracy, many of the characters do seem like cartoon villains.

Overall, funny and interesting enough. Just don't take it too seriously.