Charlie Wilson's War

“Charlie Wilson’s War” is a hilariously energetic look at how a hard-drinking congressman/womanizer, a bubbly socialite, and a gritty CIA specialist came together to end the Soviet Union’s merciless attack on Afghanistan during the 1980’s. Even with some scattered blitz-like war sequences, the bulk of the film revolves around a world of glitzy elitists who suddenly become concerned about 250,000+ miles of mountainous land that most of them can’t even identify on a map. That said, I love the way director Mike Nichols allowed his actors to cut loose from the somewhat limited source material and create a fresh, quick-witted movie that is purely a joy to watch.

Tom Hanks dives right into the title role and looks to be having loads of fun engaging in the boozy escapades that often accompany a life in politics. His razor-sharp delivery of the dialogue is a reminder of how funny he can be when given the chance to open up. As sincerely committed as Wilson wants to be, his overall temperament remains pretty stagnant throughout and nothing about him seems to evolve at any point in the picture. This flaw isn’t a major blow to the film’s success, but it does, however, prevent its ascendance into the cream of the crop for 2007. I feel that a story’s main character should undergo a significant transformation during the course of the plot and Charlie’s attempt at self-improvement didn’t quite cut it for me.

Luckily, Philip Seymour Hoffman (who’s had a barnburner of a year) was around to electrify the screen from the onset as Wilson’s partner-in-crime Gust Avrakotos, who does all the dirty work while Wilson secures the funds to keep the operation above water. The fact that Hoffman can go from zero to a hundred in an instant only adds to the awkwardness that his droll sense of humor often creates, so his impressive work here should earn him a second academy award nomination.
As for Julia Roberts, her first post-pregnancy role is admirable and she does look stunning in a bikini, but the cosmetic overkill at times puts her somewhere between Michael Jackson and a porcelain doll. I usually fancy her as an actress, but this character wasn’t really meaty enough to generate anything too noteworthy.

In the end, the film concludes rather abruptly and never directly addresses how the Afghans are currently using our own weapons against us. But I suppose screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (of “West Wing” fame) wanted to keep things jovial and focus primarily on the positive. Looking back on the austere tone of many films produced in 2007, I can’t really blame him.

- *** ½ out of 4