In 2020, a rag tag group of Venezuelan dissidents and American private military contractors landed at Macuto Bay, Venezuela, with the intention of overthrowing the authoritarian government of (legally designated U. S. foreign adversary) Nicholas Maduro. Days before the landing, the plot was revealed on Venezuelan television and supposedly paid for by the leader of the Venezuelan government-in-exile, Juan Guaido. The shoddy plan and audacity of it all made it one of 2020's most interesting news stories, in a year dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
From this story comes Men of War, a documentary following the events leading up to "Operation Gideon" and its aftermath, primarily through the lens of the Canadian born, American special ops dude-turned-mercenary, Jordan Goudreau. To say Goudreau is a character ripped straight out of Hollywood would be an understatement. He's such an incredibly fascinating person that I sort of wish the directors followed him more.
Men of War follows an inherently interesting and wild story that DEFINITELY deserves the full documentary treatment. There are so many great twists and turns, interesting characters, geopolitical intrigue, and conspiracy, it honestly writes itself. That being said, I think this movie is a testament to the reality that execution matters. You can have compelling people or events, but if a documentary doesn't share the information in a compelling and efficient way, it suffers.
To that end, I am sorry to say that Men of War is lacking in the presentation front. The directors definitely had intention in the way the film was cut and put together; a fast paced, spy thriller style intended to convey how Jordan sees the world (a "post-modern soldier," as director Billy Corben put it). However, I couldn't help but feel the doc needed to slow down a bit, let us get our bearing before info dumping on us for a good 45 minutes or so.
Eventually, as the pieces are set and we settle into more interviews, the movie slows down, but I can't help but feel there was a bit of artistry lacking here at times. Sometimes we'd cut to images or clips that almost felt as if they were "over explaining" things. I'd be genuinely curious to see how many distinct clips were used in it, because at a certain point, the film's pacing was just exhausting to be honest.
I also felt like key details that SHOULD'VE been focused on were not. Like, for example, the actual nuts and bolts of the plan these men were attempting to execute. It'd be nice to get a sense of what they were trying to do. I think it'd also be nice to understand the political context a bit more; why Venezuela was in the state it was and why the United States would have an interest in overthrowing Maduro. I follow geopolitics pretty closely, but I can imagine for the uninitiated, it would be hard to understand.
Overall, I enjoyed Men of War but I do hope there's a slightly more restrained and focused version of this movie out there. This story deserves to be told and I think with some tweaks, this thing could be really special.
