If Wade Garret of Road House fame were to be asked to describe America’s attempts to aid foreign countries in times of need he would spit a wad of blood on the ground, put his hair in a pony tail and say that the USA is, “great coming out of the gate…. but not much for stamina”. (Then he would punch whoever asked him the question right in the testicles; but that is beside the point).
Charlie Wilson’s War seemingly has the same take on the good ole USA’s attempt to wage a covert war in Afghanistan during the height of the cold war. They start out with good intentions and, when they are on the cusp of greatness, drop the ball.
Charlie Wilson (Hanks) is a congressman from the Second Congressional District of Texas whose constituents are happy as long as they can keep their guns hot and their taxes low. That his constituency is easy to please is what makes Wilson a popular man on Capitol Hill; he can give his vote freely to colleagues in need and rack up favors in the process.
Somewhere along the way Wilson realizes there is more to life than glad-handing and he decides to champion the cause of the Afghan people who are being decimated by the Russian army (that’s right….the bad guys of my youth).
At the beginning of the film, Wilson is a scotch drinking, womanizing political hack whose greatest accomplishment is of no import. At the end of the film Wilson is a scotch drinking, womanizing hero who helped arm the Mujahideen (that’s right THE Mujahideen) with rocket launchers that are capable of taking down Russian Helicopters and, in the process, brings the Russian bear to its knees (not now John!).
Hanks turns in another fine performance and unlike Denzel he can still make you think he is actually playing a role.
The great irony of this flick is that it attempts to make the viewer feel sorry for the poor Afghan rebels that are being wiped out by communists. Sitting in the theater all I could contemplate was how quickly our enemies have changed. In 1985 every red-blooded American kid under the age of 13 played Army v. Commie in their neighborhood. There was a poor Russian/Iranian/Commie kid on my block that is probably still in therapy from my brother and I chasing him through yards with sticks screaming “Wolverines!!!” It was so easy to hate the Russians. I mean shit they killed Apollo Creed for Christ’s sakes. So, rooting against the Russians in this movie was like slipping into a warm bath. Couldn’t quite cheer for those Afghan rebels though, times being what they are and all.
This movie caused my cold war instincts to clash head on with my general post 9-11 angst. All I could do was hope that the movie ended with Slim Pickens riding a warhead straight into the heart of everything.
Back to the movie. Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays a Greek CIA agent who brings comedic flare to the flick and will probably get an Oscar nomination. He and Hanks conspire to arm the Afghans with weapons that are untraceable to the US (lest a real war breaks out).
There are TONS of good-looking girls in this movie and even Julia Roberts is bearable to look at.
The “holy shit” moment of the movie is when Ned Beatty appears in a cameo. As far as I am concerned Ned Beatty should have to be in 2 of every 3 movies that are made. As an aside, if you look closely, Beatty really does have a pretty mouth.
This movie is short; which is a plus and it might even make you think about global politics and the current situation in the middle east, if you’re into that kind of stuff (which I don’t recommend).
Solid Three Stars
PS
Juno is the real movie to see but I am a little uncomfortable writing about how much I enjoyed the performance of Ellen Page in the lead role…she plays a sixteen year old girl who gets pregnant. (She will win an Oscar for best actress)
Happy New Year,
DMC
