Charlie Wilson's War (Widescreen)

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Product Description
Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 08/26/2008 Run time: 102 minutes Rating: R

Amazon.com
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

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Customer Reviews: Read 128 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Charlie did it! December 24, 2007
40 out of 46 found this review helpful

It's amazing what a few committed believers can do. In 1979, Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), a good timin' Texas Congressman finds Dan Rather doing a remote report in war-torn Afghanistan more interesting than a hot tub full of gorgeous naked women, drugs, and booze.

Next thing he knows, the sixth wealthiest woman in Texas and his sometime lover, Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts) invites him to a fundraiser. She's a bit right of center for him, but he goes--for the sex as much as anything probably.

He comes away with a mission. Start a war. If the US can arm Afghani rebels, they can stop Soviet encroachment into the Middle East--which would probably have ended with the Russians owning most of the oilfields and us out in the cold--quite literally.

"Charlie Wilson's War" is based on the true story of Texas' 2nd District US Congressman who literally did initiate the clandestine help the US gave the Afghani rebels. He, with a little help from his friends, increased the budget for help for these efforts from 5M to 1B within a 7 year time frame enabling the Afghanis to be the first country to defeat Russia and effectively end the "Cold War."

"Charlie Wilson's War" is by far the best film I've seen this Christmas season and I would not be surprised if it didn't win Oscars for picture of the year. Tom Hanks does an amazing job as the flawed man, who was a true patriot and humanitarian. Ms. Roberts does the over-the-top Texas heiress just right. Also, no surprise that Philip Seymour Hoffman blew us away as the rogue CIA agent, Gust Avrakolos.

The soundtrack, by Toto alumnus James Newton Howard, was the perfect accompaniment to the visuals. Mr. Howard has a way of picking just the right song to illustrate a time, emotion, or place. That CD is on my Wish List now.

The movie took you on the gamut of emotions from amusement, to horror, to suspense. How they managed to so succinctly cover almost a decade worth of machinations in an hour and a half still amazes me.

I wasn't the only person amazed. It seems several couples who'd come out of the film decided to eat at the same restaurant and the talk about "Charlie Wilson's War" was appreciative all around.

I'm definitely buying this DVD when it becomes available and possibly will see the movie one more time before it leaves the big screen. This one is definitely worth a second watch.

4 out of 5 stars

What a Difference One Man Can Make January 8, 2008
20 out of 23 found this review helpful

(3.5 *'s) Lascivious, witty, yet folksy, US Representative Charlie Wilson had a plan. An inveterate jet-setter, "Good Time Charlie's" main motivation in Congress seemed to be for the expense account. In an opening scene we find him hot-tubbing in a swanky suite in a Las Vegas hotel. Joining him in the Jacuzzi are topless strippers who warm up nicely to the Congressman. He casually discusses investing money for a TV show with Crestoff, a friend and business associate. Cavalier at every turn, he still has enough wits about him to engage in politics even while chasing women. After all, that's how some of them become politicians.

One of his romantic and political ties is former fiance, Joanna Herring (Julia Roberts), a wealthy born-again Christian who's described by his main staffer (Amy Adams) as "ultra right-wing". She has a mission for her second district Texas (D) Congressman. Staunchly anti-communist, she has bought him a flight to talk the President of Pakistan about providing arms to Afghanistan in their war against The Soviet Union.

It's an offer he can't refuse. On his visit, he demonstrates a lack of protocol when he requests an alcoholic beverage in a palace that doesn't allow much less serve a drop. (In one funny scene after being taken to task, Wilson quips, "You're told you have character flaws from someone who hung his predecessor in a military coup.") From there she has him hopping his way through the Middle East getting support for a plan for infiltrating arms for the peasants' resistance of the Soviet attacks. Since most of the attacks are from helicopters, Wilson negotiates with Israel, the ones who have the largest stockpile of Soviet weapons. The logistics of negotiation, getting Israel and Egypt to work together, you can imagine, would be a piece of work.

Close on his heels back in the States is CIA operative Gus (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an irascible man who won't be pushed aside as a player in The Cold War. When Wilson and Gus cross paths, Gus doesn't think Wilson will walk the walk. He's seen it all on Capital Hill before. So how refreshing it becomes for Gus when Wilson proves to be a wheeler dealer of Texas-sized proportions. Wilson works to convince the committee chairman (Ned Beatty) to double the funds for assisting the Afghans while keeping the covert operation under the radar.

Meanwhile, his partying comes to roost when news stories trickle into his Congressional office about alleged cocaine use. Unflappable Charlie regards the charges like a pesky fly, but he relies heavily on an all-female staff who, despite their prowess at damage control, were hired much less on typing resumes than what their cleavages revealed. Crestoff, it seems, whom he turned down for his TV show sponsorship, double-crossed him, with an investigation linked all the way to New York and Rudy Guiliani.

`Charlie Wilson's War' is a thoroughly entertaining and inspiring movie. There are plenty of laughs to go along with the insight, and the film proves the honored wisdom that if you want reform, you have to see it. Just as some people needed to see African Americans hosed, beaten, and confronted by attack dogs on TV, Charlie is truly moved when he sees first hand the refugee masses in Afghanistan and the terrible atrocities done to their children.

Like all historical fiction, there may be a few liberties taken with the truth. Recent articles have raised objections about the connections to Bin Laden for the arms arrangements. Whether this is true or not, the movie is an entertaining and informative look at a secret operation before "covert operations" became a dirty word. There has to be a lot of truth to it, even it allegedly fails with a detail or two.

One of the most gratifying aspects of the movie is that the previews are perfect. Neither spoiling its contents nor misleading, the trailer is what it should always be: a warm up, a superb taster, leaving much more that is worth seeing. 'Charlie Wilson's War' has good performances and solid developments without a wasted word or scene. The movie may not be Oscar worthy, but it's a very satisfying movie to watch in every way.

4 out of 5 stars

Consequences of Wheeling 'n Dealing on a Global Scale January 6, 2008
15 out of 16 found this review helpful

Senator Charlie Wilson from Lufkin, Texas, a ruggedly handsome man, who was a committed anti-Communist, with a few character flaws, who loved to have a good time, enjoyed alcohol and was a ladies' man ... became one of the unsung heros of the Afghanistan War. He was the only civilian to ever receive recognition and honor by the C.I.A. for his part in helping to drive the Russians out from Afghanistan. This film is based on the true stories written by the author George Crile in his book, "Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times". Essentially, there are two formulas to win this war on a global scale: the first is, "money + power = secret arms deals" and the second is, "clandestinely obtained weapons + motivated Afghani fighters = success". Serendipity often comes into play when success occurs on a global scale and Charlie Wilson seemed to benefit both from the unexpected and unknown ...

Charlie Wilson was sitting in a hot tub at Caesar's Palace with three young ladies, two of whom were strippers, and some male business partners, when he first saw Dan Rather on assignment in Afghanistan, presenting the plight of the mujahideen. Dan Rather described the difficulty they had fighting the Russians who had superior technology and arms. When he returned to Washington, he read the teletype from API, UPI, and Reuters and asked the C.I.A. how much was in their budget for clandestine operations in Afghanistan. He was told $5 million dollars, he quickly told them, "double it" [Charlie Wilson happened to be on the Senate Appropriations Committee]. From that point forward, Charlie Wilson was committed to helping free the Afghanistan people from Russian control ...

Tom Hanks does a superb job in playing the role of Charlie Wilson. At some point, he was contacted by Joanne Herring (played to perfection by Julia Roberts) who is a wealthy socialite from Texas who recently became a 'born again' Christian. She knew President Zia, the Prime Minister of Pakistan and arranged for Charlie Wilson to meet this Pakistani leader. He pled his case that the Afghanistan fighters needed better weapons to fight the Russians. He wanted the US to provide weapons *but* wanted Parkistan to control their distribution. More than 1/5 of the population of Afghanistan had escaped across the border to Pakistan and lived in squalid conditions due to the war with the Russians. At another point in the film, Charlie Wilson had a visit from Gust Avratakos, a rather independently minded C.I.A. agent [which got him into hot water with his superiors] ... who also had a stake in helping free Afghanistan. These two unlikely partners dealt in secret deals and meetings with an Israeli weapons and arms agent. They obtained the needed Stinger anti-aircraft missles for the Afghani fighters to use against the Russian bombers which turned the war around completely. At some point in the film, Charlie Wilson had gotten political and economic support from Doc Long, another Senator who had strong religious beliefs. He committed his total support to Charlie Wilson's position in this war.

While Charlie Wilson may be viewed as a flawed hero, he and Gust Avratakos single-handedly provided the weapons and arms needed by the mujahideen to win the war against the Russians. Amazingly enough, as time passed, the 10 million dollars initially committed to this clandestine venture turned into $500 billion dollars. Few men can fund a pet program and spend money of this magnitude and get away with it. This film does a superb job of presenting the circumstances and particular events which showed how the nearly impossible became reality. In many ways and on many levels, the film presents events in too much of a simplistic and entertaining fashion, for which I deduct one star. No doubt, the book is more thorough and complete in providing the complex details which led to the success which Charlie Wilson and Gust Avratakos achieved. Nevertheless, this is a most enjoyable and well done film. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

2 out of 5 stars

Entertaining, but hopelessly inaccurate January 14, 2008
15 out of 25 found this review helpful

I'm going out on a limb here as most people adore the film. As an entertaining movie it's okay.

While I'm as far from a prude as humanly possible, one may question Wilson's morality; you may recall the system did that with Bill Clinton to the point that they kept him occupied with it for years. The film brushed aside Wilson's goings-on with some women of dubious moral stature, particularly the filthy rich, ultra-right woman, played by Julia Roberts, who funded many of Wilson's endeavors--and in whom he indulged. The film just brushed aside this behavior, as if it were nothing more than a public relations blunder. I feel uncomfortable with that brush off, as it's what would cause much of the general public to challenge Wilson's stature right off.

(The Washington Post had a lengthy piece on Wilson just about the time the film came out, confirming much of that behavior, though questioning some details, e.g., the cleavage of some of Wilson's staff.)

Other reviewers have gone over the themes of the film so I won't reiterate them. At the end of the film, I was concerned--uncomfortable-- that there was minimal attention paid to the consequences of the Afghanistan maneuvers. Has anyone heard of a Saudi civil engineer and economist by the name of Osama bin Laden? He's one of the consequences. Or "the base?" (In Arabic Al Qaeda?) Another consequence.

So I felt uncomfortable with the film without, frankly, much detail on why I felt that way. Then I was sent a review by Chalmers Johnson in which he referred to the film as an "Imperialist Comedy." Johnson took my discomfort and put far more substance to it. For instance, what I didn't know is that the US involvement in Afghanistan took place before the USSR had invaded. It was an attempt to bring a self-destructive, Vietnam-type experience to the Soviets. While that's at least dubious legally, if not illegal, it's something that needs to be discussed, not disregarged as the film did.

Further, Wilson did all this conspiring without a word from his colleagues or consituency. In this, a democracy? Hmmm. Do your own thing, I guess.

Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the screenplay, had originally included a line from CIA operative Gus Avrakotos, played very well by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, which goes, "Remember I said this: There's going to be a day when we're gonna look back and say, 'I'd give anything if [Afghanistan] were overrun with Godless communists.'" That line was elimated from the script.

So the consequences of the US/Israeli involvement were barely covered by the film, though it's a preoccupation of a country today--one by which we can find ourselves victims with no culpability for those consequences.

In short, the film didn't address the blowback of what we'd done, and at least implicitly makes a hero out of a man who did his own thing despite the consequences. We can get on the "get them Russians" bandwagon, while as usual ignoring the US experiences in Vietnam and elsewhere. We can laugh at what Wilson got away with, relative to a president who was in office at the same time. But, while we sold the Afghans some missiles to counter the technically superior Soviets, there WERE consequences for which we continue to pay. And the film barely touched them.

1 out of 5 stars

Charlie Wilson's List June 23, 2008
10 out of 14 found this review helpful

There are many, many shocking things about this movie. The first of which is that it was written by Aaron Sorkin. I've invested in Sorkin's previous work, and was shocked to see his name in the closing credits of this awful movie. Second of all, I was even more shocked to see the positive ratings this trash has gotten from Amazon reviewers. Maybe I'm in the minority here (I certainly am on this site) but this film is one of the worst I've seen, bar none.

There is literally nothing good about this movie. There are a few things that aren't altogether awful (such as Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance), but when nothing in an entire movie can be described as "good," you know you've got a whole mess of problems at work. Here is a list that just cracks the iceberg.

1. There is absolutely nothing done by the filmmakers to get the audience involved with the story. There is no suspense, no character development, no character moments, no storytelling techniques used to pull the viewers into the story. It's just a sequence of film that I cared absolutely nothing about while watching it. I understand that this is based on a true story, so some will argue with this point. However, I'd counter that a true story deserves to be well done, because if a sequence of non-fictional events are worth telling, there is certainly an interesting story behind them. With better writing, a different director, a different producer, and a different cast, this could have been a poignant exploration of one man's journey to make a difference by aiding a cause he truly believed in. What this actually came out as is a sexist, dumbed-down mockery of real events.

2. This is based on a true story. They even had real footage blended in with the plot of the film, which further grounds this film in reality. However, if you plan on grounding the film in reality so much, why would you have the rest of the movie be so blatantly silly? Women in tight sweaters and skirts make up the entirety of Charlie Wilson's staff, and are draped all over his office like furniture. Not only does this add an undercurrent of objectification of women to the film, it makes for horribly cheesy scenes that totally pull the viewer out of the reality of the film.

3. There is not one scene here to establish a morally grey area. Americans are good, Russians are bad. Point blank, period. I'm sorry, but that's bull and makes for horrible viewing. All the best war movies show the morally grey area of combat and war as a whole, that two ideologies are at conflict and neither is good or evil, but that both sides are real people at conflict with each other. Not so here. This movie neglects that superbly intriguing moral grey area for cheap jokes and contrived speeches.

4. You know a movie is bad when an hour and forty minutes feels like you just watched The Stand. Twice.

Very simply, this film is a mockery of real life events that isn't worth your time. If the story of Charlie Wilson was worth telling, which I'm sure it was, I wish a more competent team had tackled the subject matter. This sinker easily takes a place on my Worst 20 Movies list.

1/10

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