Review of Charlie Wilson's War (2007) by Jaden N — 15 Nov 2011

Gathering A-list actors like Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman to do a movie about politics might not work as well as you would think. Even though Charlie Wilson's War managed to give Hoffman's character, Gust Avrakotos, such sarcastic tone, it failed to deliver what Tom Hanks is there for, a powerhouse performance.

Instead, we get Tom Hanks, a Congressman who wants to change the covert dealings in Afghanistan, running around trying to get people to get on his side and a lot of political scandals. You would expect a "West Wing" kind of fast dialogue since Aaron Sorkin wrote the script, but I just got a lot of boring politic-talks.

In the end, Charlie Wilson's War did manage to inform on the audience and somewhat had their interest, but isn't that what documentaries are for? I was especially disappointed since the director was Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Silkwood) and Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) written the screenplay.

But Charlie Wilson's War did do something right, putting the weight of the film on Hoffman's shoulder because they knew he could handle it. He plays a tired, old, I don't give a ****, CIA agent who will basically do anything to get what he wanted (including taping a wine bottle without a warrant).

Phillip Seymour Hoffman was enough to make the film better, but I wished they would've done something more with Amy Adams character, Hank's assisstant. Charlie Wilson's War had a lead, which was enough to carry the film, but only to a certain extent.