The Third Draft

Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)                         Back to Reviews
by Coach Patton
©D. Patton, All Rights Reserved

Screenplay by: Aaron Sorkin
From the book by George Crile

Running Length: 1:37  Rated: R (Profanity, nudity, sexual situations, violence, drugs)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Amy Adams, Ned Beatty, Om Puri

PLOT: A drama based on a Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets have some unforeseen and long-reaching effects.

A stiff drink. A little mascara. A lot of nerve. Who said they couldn't bring down the Soviet empire?

It's a curious thing--whenever this much talent is assembled for a motion picture, the result inevitably seems to be a letdown. And to say that Charlie Wilson’s War is top-heavy with talent is to understate the matter. The cast features three Oscar winners and two nominees. The director has been nominated five times and won once. The writer is a multiple Emmy winner. The cinematographer has a couple of Oscar nominations and the composer has six.

Almost against the odds, however, Charlie Wilson’s War does not collapse under the weight of expectations. In fact, it meets them squarely without flinching. With its rapid pace, smart screenplay, and top-notch acting, this is one of the 2007 Oscar season's most appealing and compelling adult motion pictures.

It’s one of those “fundamental interconnectedness of all things” movies.  Or a good-news, bad-news joke. Or an admonition to be careful what you wish for.

Cuz--we secretly armed and advised the guerilla rebels in Afghanistan against their Soviet invaders in the 1980s, and they, the ultimate underdogs, defeated the Evil Empire! Hoorah! And now they’re the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden’s peeps, and now we’re their Evil Empire. Wha . . . the . . . F . . .?

Talk about blowback.

But it’s funny, it’s actually funny, this Charlie Wilson’s War--all rapid-fire smack from the deliciously warped mind of TV’s “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin is the screenwriter here (working from the 2003 nonfiction book by George Crile), and director Mike Nichols (Closer), kinda like his not-about-Clinton-at-all Primary Colors. It’s full of slyly funny stuff like the titular U.S. congressman imploring an Israeli arms dealer to do something “for the love of Christ.” (Think about it.)

Hell, it’s full of things like a U.S. congressman (Good-Time Charlie Wilson, played wonderfully by Tom Hanks) conspiring with that same Israeli arms dealer, full stop. Plus hot tub shenanigans and Julia Roberts with big hair and full backal nudity. Plus Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman so funny you’ll snort your 48-oz. concession stand Coke out your nose.

Did I mention how funny it is? Not like a stupid Adam Sandler flick (farts-and-humiliation funny), but witty and cleverly bitter in that self-deprecating supposedly bad-for-America Eastern liberal way--oh, I know that dooms it in the current American cultural environment. But how goes-this-movie will be an indication, I suspect, of how goes America at this late stage of the game.

As brisk and frothy as it is, it can be a sneaky lesson in real-politik. But if the willfully ignorant mainstream can’t even be tricked into getting a minor education about the true state of the world beyond the aisles of Wal-Mart--and America’s less-than-blameless role in it--via a breezy comedy starring Forrest Gump and the World’s Cheeriest Prostitute, we are truly doomed.

Am I despondent and bitter? Of course. Those who aren’t are not paying attention

Look: a regular guy from Texas--which is what Charlie Wilson (Hanks) is--happens to get himself elected to Congress from “the only district in America that doesn’t want anything,” when he finds himself at the unexpectedly powerful intersection of certain particular subcommittees concerned with defense and national security and black ops and such, well, he can use what influence he has, not for his constituents, who are perfectly happy already, but to advance the causes of one rich donor, Houston socialite Joanne Herring (Roberts).

Thank Gawd Herring’s a fairly noble-minded woman who is genuinely concerned about the people of Afghanistan under the boot of invading Soviet troops. She convinces Charlie--slowly, but inexorably to help arm the ragtag Afghan mujahedeen fighters standing up to the invaders.

The ultimate consequences, a quarter of a century later, are bad enough, but imagine if she’d had more nefarious purposes in mind than helping refugees and keeping Afghanistan non-Communist?

Charlie is putty in her hands--Hanks, more sweetly earthy than we’ve ever seen him before, and Roberts, more whip-smart droll than she’s ever been, are fantastic--and she has a kind of power no private citizen should have: she maneuvers him, though he’s certainly more than willing, into launching a $1 billion covert war to help the mujahedeen defeat the Soviets.

Sure, it’s just one more battle in the middle of a century of almost nonstop warfare, but still, these two--with the help of CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Hoffman)--act like they are running their own sovereign nation. They had good intentions, and they worked (if fruitlessly) to shore up the situation once the Soviets withdrew, but, good lord, the power just a few people can wield is extraordinary.

And is that right? How can even the best-intentioned of folk be fully aware of how their actions will play out in the long run? Was it even the wrong thing to do, to help an impoverished nation defeat a powerful invader? I don’t know the answers, and neither does Charlie Wilson’s War, and that’s fine. The questions need to be asked, and if they can be asked in as entertaining a way as this, all the better.

There's some interesting musical stuff going on as well. Composer James Newton-Howard has borrowed the "He Shall Purify" chorus from Handel's Messiah and put it to good use. This is perhaps the first time any song from the oratorio has been used as a battle anthem. One could argue that it simply fits the mood but, considering the words ("He shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness") and the context in which the song is employed, there is a strong element of irony here. It's a pretty subtle thing so many viewers won't get it.

But now you know and can use it to your advantage with the people sitting around you.
 
With so many movies working on auto-pilot, it's easy to forget the pleasure of a well-written screenplay, and even easier to forget how good things can be when a director of Mike Nichols' pedigree brings the script to life. The film has it all: suspense, drama, and humor.

There's a brilliant scene in which Charlie is conferring with Gust and his aides keep interrupting with news about his involvement in a cocaine scandal. The deftness of timing necessary in this scene is the kind of thing that would have Charlie Chaplin smiling (as is the "punch line," which involves a bottle of whiskey). Sorkin's screenplay is clean and crisp and not muddled by an overt political agenda (surprising, since Sorkin is openly political).

From start to finish, Charlie Wilson’s War is an unrelieved delight, and it works even better for those who understand the bridges that took us from the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan to 9/11 and beyond. Or at least that’s How It Seemed from Where I Sat.

What’s it worth?          
For film buffs: the price of the evening shows
For the average viewer: the price of the evening shows. Everyone should see this near perfect movie!!!

A footnote: I was a neighbor of Charlie Wilson’s, in Lufkin Texas, back in the late 1960’s, before he became a congressman. He was a delightful character, graduate of Annapolis, former Navy officer, bright, erudite, funny as hell, and, and a drinker of no small repute. Many’s a night he would be at my house drunk-as-a-Lord, pontificating on the merits of keeping our county “dry” so as “to protect the women and children of our fair city”. It was my single malt Scotch he would get drunk on, purchased from “across the line” in the nearest “wet” county to ours.

I imagine that much of the Charlie Wilson humor in this movie came directly from the book and hence from Charlie’s own humorous mind. He was a “dude” before being a dude was cool.  I really liked him.

ROLL CREDITS
Director: Mike Nichols
Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin,
based on the book by George Crile
Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt
Music: James Newton-Howard
CAST
Tom Hanks--Charlie Wilson
Julia Roberts--Joanne Herring
Philip Seymour Hoffman--Gust Avrakotos
Amy Adams--Bonnie Bach
Jud Tylor--Crystal Lee

FADE TO BLACK
In The Name Of Truth, Justice and In the Service of A Higher Good, I Remain Your Friend, Movie Reviewer and Spiritual Advisor, Coach Patton

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