Charlie Wilson's War
Second up, the one man crusade against the Red Army.
Charlie Wilson's War
Starring - Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Phillip Seymour-Hoffman, Amy Adams, Shiri Appleby
Directed by Mike Nichols
Said to be based on true events, Charley Wilson (Tom Hanks) holds the easiest congressional district in the US house of representatives. His Texas base is made up of small towns who don't want very much, just governemnt to leave them alone. This gives him plenty of time to indulge in things most politicians would get slaughtered for.
Aided by his more intelligent than he thinks advised, Bonnie Bach (Amy Adams) and an office of very attractive if not hugely intelligent young ladies, Wilson's main interest is international issues. He likes to keep on top of what is going on, especially as the Soviet Army are about to begin an assault on Afghanistan.
He finds the effort to help the Afghans amounts to a miniscule $5 million dollars. He also finds that Joanne Herring, one of his biggest donors, is passionate about this subject. To him she intrugues as she is attractive, and annoys him with some her her political views such as religion, which he has no interest in. However he needs her donations so he agrees to take up the challenge of trying to increase the money to help the Afghans. With the help of CIA agent gust (Seymour-Hoffman) he goes around the US political scene, and into the heart of the middle east, to form bizarre coalitions which help turn small time afghan fighters into a force tot ake on the red-army.
The film proves Aaron Sorkin, the creator of the brilliant US political series 'The West Wing' can also do serious screenplay for the big screen. It's political content takes on some of the lazy arguments of the current 'War on Terror' debate from both sides and provides an alternative view of what went on in the 1980's, and what is happening now.
Two two huge plusses of the film are it is very real on a political level, fort his Sorkin has to take huge credit, and it has simply great acting creating great characters you can engage with. Hanks creats a likeable rogue, Seymour-Hoffman puts in a fantastic performance as a long-standing, passionate but frustrated CIA agent. On the female side two very different performances, Julia Roberts plays a very in your face, sexy and confident character, while Adams interplay with Hanks, and the quiet power her character exherts over Wilson without him knowing it is a joy. To play a shy, quiet yet powerful character like that with such charisma is a very difficult thing to do on screen, Adams truely did so.
THE MOON OF LIBERTY VERDICT - RATING 'A' - Politically powerful and well argued, and great acting across the board. A fine mix of the serious and the entertaining, I highly recommend it.
