Charlie Wilson's War Review
by Steve Rhodes (steve DOT rhodes AT internetreviews DOT com)December 27th, 2007
CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2007 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2
What a treat! CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR is the perfect Christmas present for thinking moviegoers. A film with a great cast and an equally winsome script, the movie is as hilarious as it is dead-on in its messages. Based on an amazing true story, it is so wild that, were it not true, it might be considered unwatchable because it was too ridiculous. It is also a patriotic picture, which is a rarity in a time in which Hollywood is obsessed with telling us everything it sees wrong with America. (On the other hand, audiences have avoided the current long string of anti-war movies like the plague.)
Set in the 1980s, the movie tells the story of Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), a notorious womanizer who is in his sixth term representing part of East Texas in the United States House of Representatives. A congressman with no accomplishments and with a constituency that doesn't want much, Charlie brags that he has a fistful of IOUs, since he is able to vote "yes" on everyone else's bills.
Soon after the movie opens, the hard-drinking Charlie is seen in a hot tub surrounded by "strippers and blow." Later, as he finally tries to do something good in his life, this and many other incidents of moral laxity will come back to haunt him.
At the very beginning of the film, however, we see Charlie being celebrated as one of the major heroes of the cold war. "Charlie Did It," proclaims the large banner behind his head at an intelligence agency award ceremony. Because of this obscure Representative's help, Afghanistan was the first country to defeat the Soviet Union. His position on key military and intelligence committees allowed him to cajole his fellow congressmen into increasing funds for covert operations in Afghanistan from five million to one billion dollars, almost all of which went to local Afghan freedom fighters.
But the movie is no moralistic drama. It is a sharply written comedy, which, in addition to Hanks, stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Gust Avrakotos, a washed up and bitter CIA agent, Julia Roberts as Joanne Herring, the sixth richest woman in Texas and a supporter of conservative causes, and Amy Adams (ENCHANTED) as Bonnie Bach, Charlie's chief aide and the only non-bimbo working for him. "You can teach 'em to type," says one of the buxom beauties who works for him, explaining Charlie's hiring philosophy to a visitor to his office, "but you can't teach 'em to grow tits."
Charlie's life is forever changed on a visit to Pakistan arranged by Joanne. After seeing the horror of an Afghan refugee camp and getting a briefing from an embassy official whose only goal is not to rock the boat by upsetting our enemies, Charlie decides to call in all of his IOUs and get the Afghans the weapons they need to defeat the Soviet occupiers.
Perhaps the best scene in the movie is set in Charlie's office. While trying to line up support for Afghanistan, he is also trying to damp down an exploding scandal about his shenanigans with the naked strippers and the cocaine usage. In order to deal with both at the same time, he shuffles Gust in and out of his office, as if his office had a revolving door. The best joke of many in this sequence involves a bugged whiskey bottle, which might also contain poisonous gas.
This film by director Mike Nichols (THE GRADUATE) may not be the highest profile movie of this holiday season, but it is one of the very best.
CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR runs a fast 1:37. It is rated R for "strong language, nudity/sexual content and some drug use" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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