Thanks for checking out our Charlie Wilson’s War review. Make sure to also check out the video version of this review at the bottom of the post.
It’s amazing to me that a film like Charlie Wilson’s War, a film about key events in the United State’s history, a film where the consequences of the events are being felt very harshly today, a film with MULTIPLE Oscar winners like Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman can get so little attention when coming into the theaters. Don’t get me wrong, Charlie Wilson’s War hasn’t been invisible, but you’d expect a hell of a lot better marketing campaign then what it got.
Tom Hanks is one of those very few actors that forces you to assume whatever movie he will be appearing in will automatically be quality stuff. His role selection over the years has been insanely good and as a result, his reputation, awards shelf and ultimately his legacy as one of the all time great Hollywood leading men continues to grow. Does Charlie Wilson’s War help or hurt that reputation or legacy? IT HELPS!
THE GENERAL IDEA
Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) is a small time US Congressman who likes to party hard, touch as many women as possible and in general have a good time. However he’s also a man with a soul. When the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan it sparks something in him that drives him to action. Pushed along on this new path by Julia Roberts who plays one of the wealthiest women in Texas who also wants to see the godless communists driven out of Afghanistan, and assisted by an edgy CIA operative played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Wilson begins to forge an unlikely alliance of Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Israel in a plot to arm the resistance fighters in Afghanistan by raising the money back home, and getting the players in place to carry it all out without the world (especially the USSR) knowing about it.
THE GOOD
Is it redundant to say Tom Hanks is brilliant? Have we hit that point yet? Well I’ll say it anyway… Tom Hanks is brilliant! The playboy man of influence who also happens to have an conscience is brought to life with totally perfection in such a way that has you feeling the struggle the character has undertaken. One thing that Hanks does so very well that makes him stand out as one of the all time greats, is his insane comedic timing. When used properly, and sparingly in these type of dramatic roles, it brings a dimension of humanity and charisma to his characters, and Charlie Wilson was certainly one of them. Using his subtle talents for comedy, Hanks can take what could be a very heavy feeling film, and make it entertaining and fun to watch without sacrificing the dramatic elements or narrative. I didn’t end up mentioning Hanks in my “BEST ACTOR” category of the 2007 Movie Blog Awards because although Hanks played what was handed to him perfectly, there wasn’t enough for him to do performance wise that put this role at the same level as the one by Daniel Day Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”. Otherwise, a magnificent job.
The story is told in a very smooth manner. Although a large span of time is covered in the film, it never feels “jumpy” or disjointed. Even acroos periods of time the story feels very linear (in a good way) with a terrific pace. The story reveals itself to you, answering questions along the way while introducing new situations and questions as you go. You feel the direction of the film is taking you somewhere and rarely gets sidetracked… if it gets sidetracked at all.
The ending of the film is quite good leaving us as an audience to ponder larger questions and appreciate the complexity of the world we live in. We can do a great good… but ultimately that “good” can come back to bite you in the ass. There isa story of a Zen Master told in the movie, and it has stuck with me ever since I first saw it. You’ll see what I mean.
THE BAD
The one large weakness of Charlie Wilson’s War is its failure to strike an emotional connection between us, the audience, and the plight of the Afghanistan people who were suffering under the Soviet invasion of their country. The film has a couple of quick sequences that superficially glance over refugee camps, but never lingering long enough, or having the courage to get a bit more graphic with what it shows us, to make us get emotionally invested. The consequence of this is that we never really identify with what was driving Charlie Wilson in the first place. We don’t feel that same sense of horror, outrage or compassion the character feels because we’re never really faced with the horrific realities that Wilson was. This has a viral effect on the rest of the film that neutered much of its potential strength and turned what could have been one of the best movies of the year, into just a very good movie that could have been even better.
OVERALL
Terrific performances, well paced and smooth storytelling and a piece of American history that current world leaders would do well to remember make Charlie Wilson’s War a great movie. Sadly, you become all too cognizant that you never get emotionally invested enough to care right along with Charlie, and thus it loses some of its punch. Still, a wonderful movie that many should, and will enjoy. I give Charlie Wilson’s War an 8 out of 10.
YOU CAN WATCH THE VIDEO REVIEW HERE
Will there be an islamic version of Charlie who really did it? Was he Khalid Sheik Mohammad? Are there anyone else? This movie is based on a true story, and shows some insights about CIA methods, real methods employed. Did not elaborate much on how the US failed in the hearts and mind victory already offered in a silver platter to them by helping the Mujahadeen shoot down Russians. The soundtrack was the era, the characters were as told by a hero named Gust Avrakotos. Greek American tough guy, no none sense clandestine operator. Makes those Ivy leage types at Langley look like pompous clowns because they are with that Iran Contra project. It was good… not the entire details and full story perhaps or the movie would run more than it should. I would still recommend watching for an entertaining historical perspective. 4/5
It is easy to mend the bad part – just take pictures of people dieing and suffering in Iraq now – killed by American bombings, children maimed, women being raped by American troops. That would bring viewers rage to appropriate level.
I Afganistan we, Russians, fought for political ideas and in Iraq US is driven only by greed for oil. Local population sufferes just the same… think about that
I am a Russian and was appawled at the scenes when Tom Hanks cheers when helocopters with our soldgiers get shot down by dirty, drug-trading goat-lovers using US missiles. Great people to support – Taliban. The ones who blew up monuments of intenational heritage and set up a muslim state with medival tortues.
Now Americans are dying in Afganistan, Iraq… NYC.
It is heros like Charlie that helped in bring 9/11. He did change the world… for New Yorkers and others who died in 9/11
Well done Charlie! Maybe we should think about supplying missiles to Taliban and Al Qaeda now to bring down American blackhawks and up the body bag count, and then we will make a good funny movie about it!
I saw “Charlie Wilson’s War” last night and have thought a great deal about its insights into the US’ current “mess” in Iraq. The scene in the Appropriations Subcommittee room with Charlie attempting to raise money for reconstruction in Afghanistan was informative. Of course, he starts at $1,000,000 (re. Kurt’s remark); why would he think he could get more at the outset. Had the US made any attempt at reconstruction then or after its assault in after its most recent attack, the Taliban might not have gained control in the first place nor regained the power it has today. The same is true in Iraq. We f—– u- the end game in both instances and may never extricate ourselves from either situation. On another front, I do not believe the movie was a satire. Charlie Wilson is based on fact, not fiction, and I do not believe that Mr. Wilson, who is still alive, would consider what he did to be a satire nor would he consider this account of what he did to be a satire. Finally, I don’t believe the movie needed to flood us with scenes of the horrors of the refugee camps. Anyone who is following the news today is already overwhelmed with the pictures we have in our minds of these camps in Darfur, Pakistan, Palestine, and any of the many nations where conflict is occuring. Surely anyone with a sense of the conditions millions of people in the world face today could make that connection and feel what Charlie Wilson felt. The movie did touch me emotionally and it did make me think!! Yes, it could have done more, but would the audience have sat through 3+ hours of a film that attempted to do it all? I doubt it. It’s been very difficult for any movie about any war recently to bring in major audiences. People in the US in general do not want to think or feel anything about what the US has been up to during the past 5+ years.
typos:
last quote – shown on screen in the film
grip=gripe
walkes = walks
Hey John. The film is supposed to be S-A-T-I-R-E, not feel-good fist-pumping melodrama. (did you miss the last quote?) Hence emotional connections are not part of the fabric in the first place. In fact the movie delights in its own way of going from amputated children or bombing villages to say, the shot of a womans ass as she walks down the corridor.
All that being said, I was really, really, really surprised just how much I liked this film. I expected little and it delivered a lot.
My only real grip with the movie was that obviously inserted final scene talking about funding school reconstruction in Afganistan for $1 Million (after investing $1 Billion in the war). That scene was obviously put in there for the ‘slower’ folks in the audience, despite the nice ‘Hoffman walkes away from the balcony and Wilson’ scene which would have ended the movie (including the great on-screen quote that followed) much better. It’s a minor grip though.