A nice piece of brain candy, Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War (2007) is a fun "dramedy" from the pen of Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, Sports Night). It's two-thirds a great movie, then drops the ball with a rushed, unsatisfying ending.
In 1980's Washington, Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) is better known forpartying and womanizing than his record as a legislator. However, through the connivance of his old flame, Texas millionaire Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts), Charlie becomes highly involved in the CIA's "covert war" against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Enlisting the help of vulgar but dedicated CIA Agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Wilson helps arrange a convoluted arms network involving Israel, Egypt and Pakistan, to fund the Afghan mujahedeen. Wilson's efforts are a smashing success, but as the war winds down, Gust fears that Afghanistan's problems are just beginning.
The material covered in Charlie Wilson's War remains highly topical. The CIA's support of the mujahedeen was a huge success that helped cripple the Soviet Union; however, it also laid the groundwork for the rise of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, with disastrous consequences. Just as unnerving is the picture of national security at work: Wilson sits on a secret Congressional committee with a potentially unlimited budget, and his multi-national arms network is accountable to no one. The movie presents it (not unfairly) as righteous in this context, but in others (Iran-Contra, El Salvador) it has been less moral.
Nichols and Sorkin play this material as light comedy, smoothing over the edges of the potentially rough subject matter. The complicated arms network and backroom dealings are portrayed as outrageously funny rather than outrageous, and it works like a charm. The banter between Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman is as sharp and witty as Sorkin's best work. We see just enough of the Afghans' plight to sympathize with them, while retaining focus on our protagonists; Sorkin gets to indulge in his bleeding-heart liberalism on occasion (Wilson's speech about how he got into politics), but it's well within context. The name-dropping of then-obscure political figures (John Murtha, Rudy Giulliani) has earned laughs from both audiences I saw it with.
The movie is great for the first two-thirds, but the ending is rushed and unsatisfying. Quick montages show the weapons in action, turning the tide against the Soviets, as Charlie ratchets up the funding. Sorkin works in a quick warning about post-war consequences: without American help, Afghanistan will descend into chaos and violence, but Americans no longer care about the Afghans now that they're no long useful. The movie concludes, however, with a triumphant scene of Charlie being awarded by the CIA, fudging the message and ending the film on a discordant note.
Tom Hanks is pitch-perfect, a mixture of amoral bonhomme and moral righteousness, with a Texas accent that sounds uncannily like Robert Mitchum. Julia Roberts is fine in a difficult role; her Joanne has to be obnoxious and endearing, and Roberts pulls off the right balance. Philip Seymour Hoffman gets the meatiest role (earning him an Oscar nod), stealing his every scene while remaining credible. Amy Adams, fresh off Enchanted, shines in a key supporting role; her Sunshine Cleaning co-star Emily Blunt turns up briefly as one of Charlie's conquests. Ned Beatty (The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean), Peter Gerety (Public Enemies), Om Puri (Gandhi) and Ken Stott (King Arthur) round out the supporting cast.
Charlie Wilson's War is a nice treat that just misses being a great film. On the balance, however, we can't really complain about what we have.
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