Academy Award® winners Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman star in this compelling and witty film from Oscar®-winning director Mike Nichols and Primetime Emmy®-winning writer Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing). Based on the outrageous true story, Charlie Wilson's War shows how one congressman who loved a good time, one Houston socialite who loved a good cause and one renegade CIA agent who loved a good fight conspired to bring about the largest covert operation in history.
Political movies about backroom negotiations need not be dry or heavy-handed, as Charlie Wilson's War delightfully proves. Based on the true story of playboy congressman Wilson's efforts to fund Afghanistan's defense against the Soviet invasion of the 1980s, the film is borne along on breezy attitude and a peppery script by West Wing scribe Aaron Sorkin. Wilson, played by Tom Hanks (who also produced), is the perfect hero for this kind of tale, because there's nothing perfect or heroic about him: He's a highball-swilling, fanny-pinching gadabout who becomes radicalized on the issue of helping the Afghans against their mighty aggressor. He has help in the form of a right-wing Texas anti-Communist (Julia Roberts) with a genius for raising money, and a sardonic CIA operative (Philip Seymour Hoffman, stealing the show) who lacks all the social skills Wilson has in abundance. Sorkin's syncopated speech is just the ticket for director Mike Nichols, who understands exactly how to keep this kind of political comedy popping (the complicated story comes in at a hair over 90 minutes, amazingly). Some scoundrels are on the right side of the angels, and the movie's Charlie Wilson is one of them. --Robert Horton
Beyond Charlie Wilson's War on DVD
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Stills from Charlie Wilson's War (Click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Incredible story!:
A good historical viewpoint of the present/recent past US involvement in Afghanistan. Personally, I recommend reading the book before seeing the movie since so much more historical information can be presented in a book than in the movie. Reading the book also made the movie easier for me to follow even though most people I have talked to who did not read the book said it was fairly easy to follow.
tom hanks and philip seymour hoffman shine in a fast-dialogue tongue twister:
First, let me be honest about relevant biases I hold. I am not a fan of Tom Hanks. I don't like Forrest Gump, and aside from Big, I've never really understand his massive appeal. I either really enjoy Julia Roberts (i.e. Mona Lisa Smile or Steel Magnolias) or I'm lukewarm about her performances. I think Philip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant in everything he's ever done. Finally, Aaron Sorkin is a dynamic writer. The dialogue is fast-paced, which I usually adore (i.e. 30 Rock, the funniest show on... more info
Interesting take on history:
Another political movie that choses gloss over substance. Philip Seymour Hoffman steals every scene that he's in and Julia Roberts rely on her southern roots to turn in a convincing Texas belle performance. Tom Hanks-eh. I wasn't too impressed, it seems like I've seen this character for him before. I didn't necessarily find this story all that compelling and it fails at being a character study because the change in our main character literally happens at a snap of a finger. Of course at the end everything... more info
Better than most:
Philip Seymour Hoffman makes this movie. His sarcastic, cynical and wry CIA agent is the best part of the whole thing. The dialog is great and Julia Roberts has the "Texas Socialite" down pat. The crappy Texas accents make it a bit hard to understand the actors, particularly at the beginning of the movie, and I really could have done without the shot of Tom Hanks naked butt. Otherwise, the movie is funny and holds your interest throughout.
