While the concept of CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR has its complications (e.g. explaining to a general audience the political allegances of Afghanis and Pakistanis), I found this film to be surprisingly flat because it wasn't complicated enough.
Congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) takes it upon himself to do something bigger than just secure money for his Texas congressional district by getting involved in the Middle East, and since this is based on a true story, you can't question whether or not you can buy that he'd do so because it happened. For me, that was probably the most shocking part: that this particular guy would be interested in this conflict and that he could pull off the fundraising for it. But welcome to American politics, where things like this can actually happen.
I wanted MORE of the fundraising activity captured on film and I wish that the conflicts communicated here had been expanded to give us a broader sense of the global picture. I would have liked to have more mention of Reagan and Gorbachev and maybe even include a few more famous congressmen as touchpoints.
Since we are to believe that this guy essentially ended the Cold War, I would have even enjoyed stock footage of the famous Reagan speech in Berlin for irony.
I found Sorkin's script easy to follow but not nearly funny enough. Thank God for Philip Seymour Hoffman, who nearly had me wetting myself. The film's true bright spot in an otherwise surprisingly one-level and dry documentary-ish delivery.
2.0 out of 4
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