To back up a little, “Charlie Wilson’s War” is based on the true story of a Texas congressman (Tom Hanks) with a less-than-sparkling reputation, who undertakes a covert operation to put weapons and training into the hands of Afghanistan citizens in order to overthrow the Soviets who are tyrannizing them and thus help bring an end to the cold war.
Hanks is brilliant and completely believable as Wilson, playing alongside an equally top notch Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the rough-around-the-edges CIA man, Gust Avraktos, and Julia Roberts (playing Julia Roberts, with an accent and blonde wig), as Texas socialite Joanne Herring. Amy Adams makes a sympathetic, if underused turn as Wilson’s administrative assistant.
Charlie Wilson originally takes up his mission to put real weapons into the hands of Afghanistan’s citizens after visiting the country at the behest of the wealthy friend-with-benefits Joanne (did they have the whole friends-with-benefits phenomenon in the early 80s? Maybe not, but it’s the most accurate description here, so I’m gonna go with it). After witnessing the plight of the Afghanis at the hands of the Soviets, he makes it his primary mission to get them weapons, pulling off a huge undertaking involving the single largest covert operation that had ever taken place in U.S. history.
Wilson’s meetings and maneuverings are a combination of a political drama and “Ocean’s 11”- so dazzling the audience with wit and dialogue that they can barely follow the complex steps that fit into the larger whole.
All of this- the dialogue, the laughs, the grand Texas accents and fancy parties and meetings with world leaders- all of this is easy to watch, and also fun. The hard part comes in knowing what will eventually happen to all those weapons and all that training in the hands of the Afghani soldiers- once Charlie Wilson succeeds in his mission. The hardest part is wanting the charismatic congressman to succeed in his mission, knowing all the while what he does not- what the future holds.
Knowing how the Afghanistan will one day be a breeding ground for extremists who hope to aim those weapons westward is the only damper in a film that is otherwise a lighthearted take on a political feat, full of likeable characters and Texas bluster. How much you choose to let that knowledge affect your enjoyment of the film, I suppose, is up to you.
Powered by AkoComment 2.0!
Entertainment
