Charlie Wilson's War

For those unfamiliar with Charlie Wilson’s revolutionary efforts in the United States’ covert war against the USSR in Afghanistan, here it goes. The movie starts off with Democrat congressman Charlie Wilson (Hanks) who, after an unexpected appointment, starts to realise the situation in Afghanistan and orders to have its defense budget doubled. He then embarks on a trip to Pakistan set up by his friend Joanne Herring (Roberts) to meet with the president and visit refugee camps. The visit to the camps signal a turning point as Charlie’s desire to aid the Afghan Mujahideen turns into a personal passion. The movie continues with Charlie joining forces with CIA operative Gust Avrakotos (Hoffman) to begin a campaign to help the Afghan rebels. The high point of this movie is the somewhat apathetic humor generated by the characters of Charlie and Gust. The screenplay brilliantly crafted by Aaron Sorkin should not go without credit for its intelligently wry sophistication. Due to this, this movie stands out as a political drama without the “drama”, if you know what I mean. Hanks plays Wilson with impeccable charisma but it’s Hoffman who steals the screen with his brilliantly underrated performance as a slightly deranged CIA operative.

Cast Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams Director Mike Nichols Runtime 97mins Opens 14 February
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TEXT SUREKHA RAGAVAN