Texas Congressman Charles Wilson (Tom Hanks) was known for his laid-back attitude toawrds politics, his womanising antics and his gaggle of sexy assistants (known as Charlie’s Angels – including one who was nicknamed Jailbait). In the early eighties he joined forces with wealthy Houston socialite Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts) and CIA agent Gust Aurakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and called in a few favours from his political mates to increase funding for the covert operations in Afghanistan after the Russian invasion. Based on the actual events, it is a fascinating story of how a few unremarkable people on personal crusades can quietly and dramatically change the course of history.
This distinctly Hollywood film uses buckets of charm and humour to deal with the immensely serious topic of how the United States’ funding of the Afghan Freedom Fighters contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Unfortunately, Wilson’s pleas for continued funding for schools and rebuilding the Afghan community were denied and this led to the rise of the Taliban and Al Qaeda’s historic actions. The dialogue is extremely clever and it almost seems wrong that such a serious situation should be generating so much humour. The main characters are entertainingly brilliant, but they do seem like caricatures. One can only wonder how many liberties have been taken by Nichols in this enjoyable film.
Charlie Wilson’s War (MA)is directed by Mike Nichols.
