Charlie Wilson's War

Starring: Tom Hanks, Amy Adams, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman Directed by: Mike Nichols Runtime: 97 min. Rated: R Release date: December 21, 2007 - More Info
READER RATINGS:
7 OVERALL	Smart . . . . . . . . 8 Sexy . . . . . . . . . 6 Funny . . . . . . . . 7

The Nerve Review

Those expecting Charlie Wilson's War to make Hollywood's definitive big-budget statement on blowback — through its story about the U.S. covertly funding the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviets in the '80s — should prepare for disappointment. Evidently, the subjects of Mike Nichols's film, adapted by the esteemed Aaron Sorkin from George Crile's fascinating non-fiction book, were offended by an early version fading out on the Pentagon in flames, and demanded changes. So now we get a heartwarming comedy about rascally congressman Tom Hanks waging a secret war against the Russkies by arming a ragtag band of freedom-fighting Muslim fundamentalists, egged on by red-blooded southern American evangelists. It's a political morality tale drowning in hindsight-fueled irony, but the resulting film is so de-balled it feels like a stunt. It would only take a static long take or two to turn this into some arch, David Lynchian hoax — as we watch Tom and Julia and the whole gosh-darn crew kick some Commie butt and inadvertently help lay the groundwork for the collapse of Western civilization in the process.

Now that I've gotten the strident hyperbole out of the way, I should note that Charlie Wilson's War is pretty entertaining — and thus, in a way, that much more obscene. The real-life Wilson was indeed a boozy, womanizing, larger-than-life Representative from Texas who recovered his sense of moral outrage with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the refugee catastrophe that ensued. Hanks brings his patented All-American charm to this rake, so that he now also becomes a wise, liberal soul; Sorkin pointedly includes an early scene where Wilson argues with a powerful constituent about where a public Nativity scene should go in his district. And as Gust Avrakatos, the scrappy, deadpan CIA operative who helps Wilson on his Afghan quest, Philip Seymour Hoffman makes an ideal acerbic-immigrant foil to Hanks's whitebread roué. In other words, this movie is fun, and that adds to its surrealism: are Nichols and Sorkin up to some kind of post-postmodern prank here, winking and nodding their way towards some more subtle point? Or are they so afraid that viewers will reject something overtly critical and socially conscious, and have thus pre-empted their own movie as a precaution? (Anyone seeing the ads for the film would be hard-pressed to realize it's about war in Afghanistan.)

Why should Nichols, Sorkin, and co. be taken to task for wanting to entertain rather than preach, you ask? A fair point, but note that the myth-making apparatus of Cold-War Washington was very much a culprit in the tangled mess we're in today. The film's portrayal of Pakistan's brutal military dictator Zia ul-Haq as an avuncular strongman is exactly the kind of glossy untruth we don't need — this was the man who brought stoning back to his country. Maybe if we lived in a vacuum, and Charlie Wilson's War took place on a distant planet, we could all sit back and enjoy the fun. But in a world of very real moral urgency, a film like this, no matter how entertaining, will catch in your throat. — Bilge Ebiri

Other Reviews

Variety
Todd McCarthy
"The pacing of Charlie's Wilson's War is exceptional. The material provides much to think about and discuss afterward, but Nichols doesn't pause for reflection while it's all unfolding onscreen. The tempo and balancing act achieved the director and editors John Bloom and Antonia Van Drimmelen are virtual perfection."
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The Village Voice
Robert Wilonsky
"Nichols certainly gets the tone right: The big-screen Charlie Wilson's War, clocking in at ninety-three fly-minutes, is dark and funny and mean and sexy, damned near pitch-black-perfect considering that at the end of this boozy comedy you wind up with, oh, Osama bin Laden."
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The New Yorker
Anthony Lane
"The film, adapted from George Crile's book, doesn't always work, but it sure offers value for money. One reason for this economy is that Nichols has paired up for the first time with Aaron Sorkin, late of The West Wing, whose scripts operate on the principle that there is no affair of state, however tangled or burdensome, that cannot be breezed through at a brisk dramatic pace."
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The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
"This outrageous tale of 1980s-era good corruption, apparently largely true and all the more outrageous for that, might be the perfect antidote to today's shrill political scene with Republicans and Democrats staking out intractable positions and accomplishing little."
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Your Reviews

Mike Nichols is nothing if not a showman, and his politics are in the right place, so you approach the eventual overthrow of the Soviets with the right amount of cynicism. The film ends with Gust turning to Wilson after a celebration and relating a story of a Zen master who answered every turn of events with the words, "Well, we’ll see." Wilson unsuccessfully lobbies his subcommittee for funding to educate the young Afghans. An onscreen Wilson quote neatly foreshadows the coming of the Taliban: "We fucked up the endgame." The point is clear: we waltzed in there, spent a billion dollars to get the Soviets out of Afghanistan, then walked away and left them to their own devices. If nothing else, thanks to its star power and user-friendly façade, perhaps CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR will reach a few of the people out there who’ve blindly supported American foreign policy all these years.

posted by filmington on 12/22/2007 11:30:02 AM
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