Movie Review: Charlie Wilson's War (2007, Mike Nichols)

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Cast: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Brian Markinson, Jud Tylor, Hilary Angelo, Cyia Batten
Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (Based on the book “Charlie Wilson’s War” by George Crile)
97 minutes / Color

Did get educated regarding Charlie Wilson’s actual war? Yes; BUT I still had a sense of feeling that the movie was rather pointless (despite a great performance by Hanks and a pretty good screenplay). I guess the mediocrity really came from the foundation of it all, which means the overrated performances (Hoffman and Roberts) and over-hyped direction of “The Graduates’” (1967) Mike Nichols. Final summary of “Charlie Wilson’s War” is: Interesting but Mediocre.

Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) is a womanizer, over-the-top-scotch-drinker and fun-wheeling government official in the United States. As the wild person he is, he never failed to do his missions and jobs and is about to face one of the most relevant things he’ll ever do that’ll make the Afghans win the 1980’s Cold War.

As a member of the United States Defense committee, he is soon asked by rich socialite Joanna Herring (Julia Roberts) to take on a mission to try and help the Afghans win the war against the Soviets by raising money through the government.

After seeing the harsh effects that happened to Afghanistan due to the attacks by the Soviets, Wilson is later convinced and starts his fund raising. He gets in contact with Gust Avrakotos (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), a specialized CIA agent, and the two start their work in persuading the American Government to give 5 million dollars to buy weapons and supplies.

The two make it big, as their 5 million dollar donation, finally turns into a great sum of 1 billion dollars as they convinced them! Afghanistan, using the super deadly weapons that the Americans donated, ended up winning the Cold War and Charlie Wilson not only got re-elected for Congressman, but becomes one of the most important men in American history.

At the start of the year, “Charlie Wilson’s War”, a new “sensation” with great star-power led the buzz. Everything from the acting, direction and screenplay were in consideration for the Academy Awards. Everyone thought that this and “Atonement” would wipe everything out. When it came Oscar Season, it seems that Charlie Wilson really will be battling some big wars. Now, this movie has gotten mediocre reviews and has a huge, huge, huge long shot at getting nominated…for anything.

Though it has garnered a few fans, it seems that this movie didn’t impress me so much (despite the 3 stars -- Hanks, Roberts and Hoffman--I constantly praise for their Oscar wining performances). The movie turned out to be interesting with some parts boring, acting was mediocre, screenplay was great, and the movie turned out to be completely over hyped. I’m sorry to the fans, but I really didn’t feel it that much.

I must admit however, it started with a great bang, the scene where Tom Hanks is in the Jacuzzi with the play boy star and producer in Las Vegas. Great “misleading’ first scene, the rest of the movie was a political drama, trying to hide itself with a few comic moments.

Tom Hanks, an iconic legend by now, was actually pretty great. The role worked for him like his other movie which he put on a Southern accent for “Forrest Gump” (believe me, this and that don’t compare). However, he shined the most and did well in the title performance. Amy Adam’s small role was fun (I’m not just speaking as an “Enchanted” fanboy), but she was definitely underused.

The over hyped and overrated duo: Mrs. Julia Roberts and Mr. Phillip Seymour Hoffman weren’t only uninteresting to watch, but we’re very…hmm…what’s the word? Fine, I’ll just say a phase: “Not to good for all their awards buzz”. Julia’s accent was not too flattering, her character development was thin and she looked liked a transvestite (haha, I just had to point that out). Hoffman was practically the same as he usually is, except he had different makeup and costume. As least his other two acclaimed performances this year (“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” – he’s excellent there) wasn’t like this. He’s completely overrated. Sorry to anger those who really loved Roberts and Hoffman in this. But hey, reviews are just a matter of opinion right?

As the film progressed, I thought it was okay and the screenplay was really great, but it was too “thin-a-plot”. It seems like everything was in place and then everything just ended. Just when the character’s were developing or showing a different face, the movie just suddenly ended. This kinda annoyed me, because I wanted to see it more. Maybe a final 30-40 minutes of absolutely wonderful acting and dialogue could have given them a rightly deserved 4 or even 5 stars. Just too bad.

The showcase of the war scenes were probably the best part of the movie. It was a mix of comic styling / video game style. It was actually pretty cool, and if those were visual effects, I am pretty amazed. Cool scene they were.

As I watched “Charlie Wilson’s War”, it just popped up and went. Nothing special, but really, really, really far from terrible. It’s one of the highest ranked 3 star films this year…if that makes sense to you. It was uncompelling and rather thin and I think Mike Nichols couldn’t put his talent to better use with different material. I anticipated this film a lot and it ended up being a let down.