Rating of
3.5/4
Politics at it's finest
Alex - wrote on 12/28/07
Charlie Wilson's War is a very good movie. I don't want this review to turn into a political spout, but it might have to. Tom Hanks is magnificent as Charlie Wilson. Julia Roberts even does Ok with the accent. So, as you can tell, the acting is top notch.
I did not grow up in the 80's, so I have no knowledge or Mr. Wilson, so this movie was a total learning tool for me. I learned a lot about the Soviets and the War the Pakistan and Afghanistan people were fighting. The story is told well, with Hanks taking the lead in every way possible. Hoffman caps off his performance with one of his more likable roles. He proves that he should be a Hollywood star. So the story is interesting, it is told well, and the movie never bores me - plus I was interested in the subject matter.
It could have been better though. Nothing stood out as outstanding (other than the acting) and neither the music nor the cinematography was incredible (like some of the other movies on my list ahead of this one). I was looking for more soviet influence (music, and acents) as well as maybe some 80's music. Still, this was one of the better movies of 2007 but could be pushed back as I see some of the more creative and original movies of 2007.
To bring politics into this, I find it funny that Charlie Wilson created the Taliban in a round about way. He tried stopping it, but the government wouldn't listen to this man from Texas. If you look at our current situation in the Iraq War, you can see why the U.S. is reluctant to pull out. I am starting to see what they are saying but I feel there is a much better way of presenting solutions to these problems (we can start by not calling every other country "Part of the Axis of evil" as that tends to piss people off. Here is to you Charlie Wilson and may many more unpolitical people come after you in congress.
