Review of Charlie Wilson's War (2007) by Justin N — 02 Jun 2009

What a fun movie! It's a gem of an historical biopic about a subject fairly unknown, yet whose exploits shook the foundations of the Soviet Union and "were glorious and changed the world." Tom Hanks, as usual, melts seamlessly into this uncharacteristic role, and P.

S. Hoffman is wonderful as a jaded less-than-super spy who teams up with Charlie in a covert crusade against the Soviets. The odd dichotomy of serious subject matter and a lighthearted approach mirrors the persona of the eponymous character, who deals at once with a cocaine-hooker scandal and securing arms for the Afghan Mujaheddin.

And, of course, at the end of the movie is a wonderful lesson about how foolish we are to spend billions of dollars on weapons to destroy things and almost no money to rebuild after the destruction. Thanks for trying Charlie.