Mike Nichols's latest tragic-comedy, Charlie Wilson's War, details the story of one man's attempts (and success) in fighting the Soviet communists via the Afghans in the 1980s. Actually, that's not entirely correct: under some pressure from a right-wing lady-of-wealth in Joanne (Julia Roberts), Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) started to look further into Afghanistan, and got somehow a tactic of supplying the Afghans weapons to fight the Soviets covertly through his own congress (that, and the complete guidance of Gust, played in probably the best part by Philip Seymour Hoffman).
It's a story with lots of little bits and shards of humor, but Nichols also happens to have a good scene that shows what is the quintessential aspect of the character of Charlie Wilson, surprisingly well played by Hanks as a charming, affluent and intelligent man with big tendencies for drink and young female flesh. There's a scene where he's meeting with Hoffman's character for the first time, and as the two talk about tactics starting off towards the problem with the Afghanistan conflict, he keeps getting interrupted by his interns (or his 'Jailbait' as he calls them) who are giving him the scoop and finding out what to say about a scandal breaking out about him with hookers and cocaine. Meanwhile, as Wilson juggles these two sides, Hoffman's Gust offers the best advice of all- following a tap put on Wilson's gift from Gust, a bottle of Scotch.
That one scene illustrates greatly, and hilariously, what these two men, Wilson especially, are all about. And it might even be the one scene that can stick to the story while also seeming floating above it. While Nichols does get little jokes in the mix that work well in the vein of his past works ala Catch 22 and Primary Colors (my favorites were a quick sight gag of ignored Native Americans in Ned Beatty's office, and a talk between two Soviets about their sex lives as Afghans get ready with their first torpedoes), it's not for a necessarily great work. It's admirable, and even more fun than it should be. But it also lacks the "umpf" of a superb work like Primary Colors. Roberts's part could've been played by someone else, possibly much better, and there feels like things were left out for the sake of a running time between 90 and 120 minutes. It could've been longer, meatier, and it would've helped. Skipping over the bulk of the 80s, with a story like this, seems to be a little erroneous.
And, in the end, there's not a whole lot that can be taken away from Wilson's story except that giving arms to a people will eventually- if not cleaned up right- will cause trouble later on. The best I can say about Charlie Wilson's War- and I do recommend it above all else to mature audiences who might be interested in a little more with their Tom Hanks movies and think Hoffman is the latest Godsend of actors- is that it does its job well and doesn't give off any real bad vibes. But if tart, ironic exposes are your bag, have at it, at the least during this Christmas season.
It's a story with lots of little bits and shards of humor, but Nichols also happens to have a good scene that shows what is the quintessential aspect of the character of Charlie Wilson, surprisingly well played by Hanks as a charming, affluent and intelligent man with big tendencies for drink and young female flesh. There's a scene where he's meeting with Hoffman's character for the first time, and as the two talk about tactics starting off towards the problem with the Afghanistan conflict, he keeps getting interrupted by his interns (or his 'Jailbait' as he calls them) who are giving him the scoop and finding out what to say about a scandal breaking out about him with hookers and cocaine. Meanwhile, as Wilson juggles these two sides, Hoffman's Gust offers the best advice of all- following a tap put on Wilson's gift from Gust, a bottle of Scotch.
That one scene illustrates greatly, and hilariously, what these two men, Wilson especially, are all about. And it might even be the one scene that can stick to the story while also seeming floating above it. While Nichols does get little jokes in the mix that work well in the vein of his past works ala Catch 22 and Primary Colors (my favorites were a quick sight gag of ignored Native Americans in Ned Beatty's office, and a talk between two Soviets about their sex lives as Afghans get ready with their first torpedoes), it's not for a necessarily great work. It's admirable, and even more fun than it should be. But it also lacks the "umpf" of a superb work like Primary Colors. Roberts's part could've been played by someone else, possibly much better, and there feels like things were left out for the sake of a running time between 90 and 120 minutes. It could've been longer, meatier, and it would've helped. Skipping over the bulk of the 80s, with a story like this, seems to be a little erroneous.
And, in the end, there's not a whole lot that can be taken away from Wilson's story except that giving arms to a people will eventually- if not cleaned up right- will cause trouble later on. The best I can say about Charlie Wilson's War- and I do recommend it above all else to mature audiences who might be interested in a little more with their Tom Hanks movies and think Hoffman is the latest Godsend of actors- is that it does its job well and doesn't give off any real bad vibes. But if tart, ironic exposes are your bag, have at it, at the least during this Christmas season.