Produced by Tom Hanks, written by Aaron Sorkin, and directed by Mike Nichols, this adaptation of George Crile III's incendiary bestseller tells the remarkable story of the Texas congressman whose efforts to prevent the Red Army from overtaking Afghanistan eventually led to the collapse of the Soviet Union while simultaneously fueling the rise of radical Islam. In the early 1980s, a hastily assembled army of Afghan "freedom fighters" achieved the remarkable feat of fending off Soviet invaders
despite the fact that the odds were overwhelmingly stacked against them. At the time, Texas congressman Charlie Wilson (Hanks) was a key member of the hugely powerful House Appropriations Committee. Illuminated to the specifics of this remarkable war by a high-profile Houston socialite, Wilson spearheaded an effort to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons and training to the Mujahideen with more than a little help from brilliant but prickly CIA operative Gust Avrokotos. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
[Philip Seymour Hoffman's] rumpled, cranky spy is hilarious--George Smiley by way of Jack Black--but with an edge of quiet ferocity that makes every scene he's in play a little sharper.
Maybe it wasn't his fault those chickens came home to roost in the form of the Taliban, but you have to wonder: Would Nichols have given Oliver North such an easy ride?
Charlie Wilson's War features two characters who know how government is supposed to work. They also know it doesn't work as it is supposed to, so they have to subvert the system and go beyond it.
Hanks' performance as Wilson is tone-perfect, capturing both the public-servant seriousness and playboy rakishness of his character. And he does it without breaking a sweat.
At a short 93 minutes, it feels as though Charlie Wilson's War was hacked up in the editing room, leaving the bare bones of the structure but little of the really juicy meat.
The movie never addresses the pressing questions raised in Crile's nonfiction page-turner. It also never encourages the viewer to consider that a solitary congressman appropriated more than $40 million of taxpayer money for his cause.
A smart and entertaining charisma vehicle that also happens to teach a bit of recent US history, Hanks everyman plays a goodtime, partying congressman from Texas who's drawn into supporting Afghan rebels in their fight against Russian aggression. Nice turns by all the cast (Ned Beatty and Om Puri among them) almost
hide that great care is taken not to upset American sensibilities.
Too bad in Americas rush to defeat the Soviets we created the Taliban, strengthened the Haqqani network and gave Pakistan the time it needed to make a nuclear weapon. Great intentions but we messed up the end game.
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