Charlie Wilson's War

By Matthew Rodgers

Director Mike Nichols latest has ingredients that ooze pure cinematic class. A script from The West Wing and Studio 60 genius Aaron Sorkin, played out by Academy Award magnets Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, not to mention solid support from Om Puri and Enchanted’s Amy Adams, it attempts to tackle that hot potato of recent audience apathy, War, but unlike the serious black and white polemics of Lions for Lambs, or the base level approach of The Kingdom, Charlie Wilson’s War uses political satire in a similar vein to Nichols own splendid Primary Colors to entertain as well as educate.

Hanks is congressman Charlie Wilson, introduced as something of a political Fonz he is surrounded by a bevy of administrative beauties and described by colleagues and peers as “a man of many character flaws”. Nichol’s film, based on the book by George Crile, tells the story of how Wilson grew as an American figurehead to spear the Afghanistan cause against the Russian insurgency in Cold War 80’s.

Not tackling current conflicts allows Charlie Wilson’s War a more light-hearted canvas on which to paint some colourful characters. Tom Hanks is fantastic as the liberal lothario who has a wake up call during a visit to an Islamabad refugee camp. His is a believable journey that will break smiles as much as it does hearts. Julia Roberts initially struggles to be likeable as the hard-nosed socialite Joanne Herring but has a few moments to remind people that there’s more to this Pretty Woman than that smile. The hands down winner of this acting war is the unparalleled Hoffman as the bouffant haired, foul mouthed CIA man Gust, he is the perfect foil to Hanks, and Sorkin’s dialogue has never been suited, or delivered better than from the guaranteed Oscar nominee.

The Cold War contextualisation doesn’t mean that the themes are redundant in todays climate. The script is littered with applicable quotes such as “Why is congress saying one thing and doing nothing?” and “impotent response to threats” that mark it out as a pre-cursor to the current Afghanistan conflict. What elevates the film above the norm is the scathing honesty of Wilson’s mission, in particular a hilarious, pre-end credit quote that brilliantly captures the tone of a movie in which the main character utters “well I don’t think making more movies about it [War] is going to do the trick.”

Excellently directed with a light touch – the Russian attack on an Afghan village to operatic music is generically clichéd but highly effective and compliments the real-life stock footage to ground proceedings – and faultlessly acted, Charlie Wilson’s War can only be criticised for its sidetracking of Amy Adams and the distinct lack of character focus in the final third but still remains an intelligent and pleasant trip to the cinema.