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  1. #1
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    Movie Review: Charlie Wilson's War

    Charlie Wilson's War hits theaters in about 2 weeks but I got to see a sneak a few days ago. It stars Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman in a film directed by Mike Nichols with a script from Aaron Sorkin. In terms of talent on the project, you'd be hard-pressed to surpass this flick.

    And I am pleased to report that all of them bring their A-game to this movie- especially Sorkin whose gift for witty, quick banter that is both funny and insightful makes him perhaps the finest writer around (especially when it comes to politics). The movie zips along at a fun pace and never loses your interest. It relies on humor a lot more than drama, which is a little awkward at times and will probably keep it from getting too much Oscar notice, but it makes for an enjoyable ride and a real audience-pleaser.

    The film, if you did not know, is based on the true story of Texas congressman Charlie Wilson (Hanks). Wilson is smart and handsome and enjoys the perks of congressional life, especially the women. His office is populated with gorgeous females and he seems to date a different woman every night. On the side, he is a congressman who happens to serve on the subcommittee that controls the CIA's covert operations budget.



    At the urging of a beautiful and rich girlfriend/political activist (Roberts) he visits refugee camps where Afghans have fled the 1980 Soviet invasion. What he sees there changes him and when he gets back to Washington he begins talking to the abrasively honest CIA officer (Hoffman) in charge of helping out the Afghans. Probably less than a dozen people really know what went on behind closed doors in the congressional meetings that ended up funding the Afghan war effort to the tune of something like a billion dollars, but the film implies that Wilson's wheeling and dealing made it happen.



    I mentioned the word Oscar and I see 3 potential nominations from this film-- Hanks for best actor, Hoffman for supporting actor, and certainly Sorkin for his adapted screenplay. Julia Roberts has not made a movie in 3 years (unless you count loaning her voice to the spider in Charlotte's Web) and her role in this film is not all that huge. Hanks and Hoffman really own the flick and their interaction is classic. The scene where they meet for the first time in Hanks' office is hysterical and brilliantly written.

    The best part about this movie is that it will teach you a little bit about a fairly important historical event. What's more, the lessons from what we did in Afghanistan AFTER THE WAR ENDED can be applied to the situation we are in over in Iraq right now. Sorkin is clearly aware of this but the film does not hammer you over the head with politics or any kind of liberal/conservative agenda. It is just a good time and some stellar writing/acting. The nice thing is that the history and politics of the film are presented in such an engaging fashion that just about anyone can enjoy this movie. It has some nudity and sex/drug themes so I would not take a 12-year-old to see it, but just about anyone over that age should find it enjoyable.

    I realize I did not say anything negative about it. I suppose some folks may find it a bit offputting to treat what could be a serious subject with humor and fun. The war/action scenes are pretty weak often mixing real historical footage with very poorly re-created CGI effects. The first time where the Afghans shoot down a Russian helicopter features some laughably bad acting by the bumbling Afghan freedom fighters. The movie is rather simplistic at times and the characters lack nuance and depth. It might have been nice to know what brought Charlie Wilson to his womanizing, drug-using ways or other darker sides of some of the characters.

    I think the bottom line is that this movie is not trying to be serious or write the definitive history of Charlie Wilson and the Afghan war. Sometimes it is nice to just sit back and have a good time in a film. That is what you get here.

    --Jason "Hoffman is really fabulous here-- he steals every scene he is in" Evans

  2. #2

    The Freedon Fighters

    Jason,

    Aren't those Afghan freedom fighters we helped ... the Taliban?

    You suggest the film addresses the postwar situation. Is this discussed?

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Olympic Fan View Post
    Jason,

    Aren't those Afghan freedom fighters we helped ... the Taliban?

    You suggest the film addresses the postwar situation. Is this discussed?
    No, they are not. Well, not exactly. We did supplies arms and training to the "freedom fighters" who later became the Taliban but we were basically arming anyone who would shoot at Soviets back then. The Taliban was not organized at that point, I don't think, and it certainly was not nearly the organization it would become.

    Still, when the Taliban marched into Kabul in 1996, they were certainly using some weapons that had been paid for with U.S. dollars a decade earlier.

    The film deals in its present and does not discuss what happened afterwards very much. There is a key scene at the end of the picture when Wilson is trying to get some fellow congressmen to agree to spend money on post-war Afghanistan (he fails) and he gives a brief speech that brilliantly points out why the people there eventually grew to hate America and how they did not know we were the folks behind their liberation from the Soviets. If you know your world history then you understand exactly what is going on in that scene as well as a few others that allude to training and supplying folks who would later become our enemies. Osama's name is never mentioned, though there is a scene with CIA operatives talking about training the fighters where it certainly could have been.

    I sorta like that they did not get all preachy about post-war Afghanistan (aside from one brief scene) or what happened after the Soviets left. The movie is not about moral lessons from war and I think it would have hurt the picture to do this.

    --Jason "I think Sorkin and Nichols didn't want to make the audience ponder important stuff too much" Evans

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    I sorta like that they did not get all preachy about post-war Afghanistan (aside from one brief scene) or what happened after the Soviets left. The movie is not about moral lessons from war and I think it would have hurt the picture to do this.

    --Jason "I think Sorkin and Nichols didn't want to make the audience ponder important stuff too much" Evans
    I take that to mean it is entertainment, not politics. Yes?

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Indoor66 View Post
    I take that to mean it is entertainment, not politics. Yes?
    Yup, totally. I thought my review made that clear. IMO, this is not a controversial or political film. It is not The West Wing Goes To Afghanistan or anything like that.

    --Jason "there is some politics, there has to be, but not much" Evans

  6. #6
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    Originally Posted by Indoor66
    I take that to mean it is entertainment, not politics. Yes?
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Yup, totally. I thought my review made that clear. IMO, this is not a controversial or political film. It is not The West Wing Goes To Afghanistan or anything like that.

    --Jason "there is some politics, there has to be, but not much" Evans
    But I hope there is some fact to go along with the fiction. If not it can really skew people's thinking and perception about that time.



    Wilson Discusses 'Charlie Wilson's War'
    “It was a scary time, and while most have forgotten, it was real, and it was terrifying,” said former Texas congressman Charlie Wilson about the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

    His speech, “The Red Army’s Last Battle and the Collapse of the Soviet Empire,” revolved around the book written about him, "Charlie Wilson's War," and Congress’ helping of Afghanistan during the 1980s against the Soviet Union attack.

    “This all-powerful, indomitable, irresistible empire (the Soviet Union) invaded a small country bordering on its south made up of tribesmen and shepherds, people who had never seen a toilet, people who were illiterate, people who were unarmed,” he said, “but unfortunately for the Red Army, people who were born without fear, with good eyesight and with a steady trigger finger.”

    After holding out for almost a year, the war, “truly a battle of flesh and blood against iron and steal,” began to draw interest from the United States Congress, Wilson said.

    “We became very interested from the standpoint of the interests of the United States, as well as from the standpoint of great sympathy for these mountain people,” he said. “I became convinced when we were getting reports of the Russians losing officers to knives and stones in the city of Kabul and other cities of Afghanistan that the Russians had bitten off more they had intended to chew. So we began to help them, and we began to help them significantly.”

  7. #7
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    My dad just finished the book and loved it and he isn't a liberal or conservative so i don't think it is too political.

  8. #8
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    A few more reviews of this excellent film...

    Access Hollywood says it is "an immensely entertaining, razor-sharp satire."

    The Hollywood Reporter says it is "the perfect antidote to today's shrill political scene."

    and Variety's Todd McCarthy calls it "smart, sophisticated entertainment for grownups."

    --Jason "what's more, it is growing on me over time-- I like it more now than I did when I walked out of the theater" Evans

  9. #9
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    Shameless BTTT because this movie opens this weekend.

    --Jason "I am seeing National Treasure 2 tonight-- will have review in the AM, I hope" Evans

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