Charlie Wilson's War

It was with a small amount of trepidation that I went to see Charlie Wilson's War. I'm no fan of the work of Aaron Sorkin. Never saw an episode of West Wing that I could get into. Same with Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. A Few Good Men bored me. Until today, there's nothing of Sorkin's work that I would recommend. Until today.

Perhaps reined in by Mike Nichols or supported by the solid work of Tom Hanks (who also leaves me cold at times), Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julia Roberts, Charlie Wilson's War turns out to be a very good film. The humor is laugh-out-loud funny, but leaves you with that bad aftertaste that says, "Oh, maybe I shouldn't be laughing." It's humor that forces you to think, and that is an amazing way to comment on the current troubles.

Charlie Wilson is a flawed congressman who, after a moving visit to Afghanistan, pushes the U.S. to dramatically increase it's covert involvement in supporting the Afghans against the Soviet incursion. He's a good old boy politician to whom everyone owes a favor. So, it's within his power to bring the budget from $5 million to ultimately $5oo million, to get the CIA to change its philosophy that staying out will turn this into Russia's Vietnam, and to bring Israel together with Arab countries for mutual gain.

Hanks does a wonderful job of capturing the complexities of Wilson. Even when the script stumbles--and it does here and there, particularly in the last few minutes--Hanks is totally engaging. You can see the internal conflict of a man who laughs off ethics investigations and plays politics with natural ease. This cause means something to him.

Roberts gives a fine turn as the sixth wealthiest woman in Texas. For her this is a religious cause, and she brings her power to bear to get the cause on Wilson's radar. Similarly, Hoffman shines as Wilson's partner in bringing about U.S. involvement.

There's an absurdity to these proceedings that is captured beautifully by Mike Nichols. He's in great form here, and he serves up comedy at its most effective: thought provoking.

The film does falter in the final moments. To be sure, we all know the ending, but it's tough to swallow a preachy ending--we spent billions fighting the war, but can't even spend $1 milllion rebuilding the country--after a film that has shown us atrocity rather than preach about it.

Definitely one of the year's best, though!