Charlie Wilson's War
Director: Mike Nichols.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman.
In recent years, it has become fairly common knowledge that in the 1980s, during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the US backed the Afghan resistance, supplying it with funds and armaments. Based on a true story, Charlie Wilson's War presents an explanation for this dubious fact, from the American perspective. Tom Hanks plays the politician Charlie Wilson, a hard-drinking chauvinist who is pulled out of his hedonistic stupor when a steely Texan socialite (Julia Roberts) confronts him with a picture of life in the third world under Russian occupation. At the culmination of the Cold War, Charlie Wilson finds himself becoming the leader of one of the biggest political conspiracies the Western World has ever seen.
Like with a lot of political dramas, it's pretty easy with this film to feel like you're losing the plot of what's happening. With a script by (TTT), who also wrote TV's the West Wing, the dialogue rockets along in a political and military shorthand that's confusing to listen to, but which may be easier to follow for people who are more familiar with these terms of reference. Overall the film-making is very good, particularly in the areas of the acting by the film's great cast, and the costumes by Albert Wolsky, which neatly re-create a visual picture of the times. The scenes depicting Afghan refugee camps are deeply affecting and there's also some clever editing which juxtaposes the poverty of battle-torn Afghanistan with the complacent privilege of the West.
Charlie Wilson's War comes at an interesting time for the world politically.
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