I approached Charlie Wilson's War with some trepidation.
I had read American journalist and author George Crile's book about the American and Russian face-off in Afghanistan a couple of years back and couldn't quite work out how Hollywood would take the story of the enigmatic, misogynistic US senator from page to screen.
But then I heard that one of the finest writers of his generation was writing the screenplay and I knew I was in for a treat.
Aaron Sorkin is a genius. If nothing else, he is the creative mastermind behind one of the best TV creations ever - The West Wing.
Not only did Mr Sorkin create the long running, award winning American series, but he was also the mind behind the pen that created every single episode when the show was at its peak.
The fast talking, fast walking, witty TV show is set behind the scenes of the White House, with the dedicated staffers who keep the President informed and the country running. And if you like the West Wing, you'll like Charlie Wilson's War.
Charlie himself is played by Tom Hanks (fresh from his Da Vinci Code adventures), and he is joined by Philip Seymore Hoffman who perfectly plays unlikely CIA spy Gust Avrakotos, as well as Julia Roberts as the Houston socialite Joanne Herring.
As you would expect from Sorkin, the dialogue is seamless.
The story is difficult to believe, apart from the fact that, well errr, it's fact.
A lone Democratic Texan US senator really did take on the might of the USSR - and win!
It was Charlie who recognised that the deciding battle of the Cold War would be in Afghanistan and it was Charlie who ensured that the Mujaheddin were a modern armed and trained fighting force.
It's not everyday you get a politician like Charlie Wilson, and it is difficult to see his likes in our Parliament, but you know the Americans, everything is bigger, and better.
And the film doesn't shy away from the long-term, post Afghan war, effect of America's 1980s foreign policy, with references back to Afghanistan's connection to the 911 attacks and the fact that American trained Afghan fighters have now turned their guns on the US.
But in the pre-release run-up to Charlie Wilson's War, I read an interview where Sorkin said he had his own battle with director Mike Nichols over whether to include a final scene of Charlie drinking a Bourbon on his Washington balcony as a plane crashes into the Pentagon.
Nichols won, and I'm afraid the film is denied the ending it deserved.
That said, it's a great film, which has a great cast and one of the greatest writers of all time. What more can you ask for.
Charlie Wilson's War Trailer
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Lloyd J wrote...
This is an excellent film.
You're right about the script: tightly written and loads of brilliant, memorable lines of the kind that made the West Wing such a great programme. But the quality of the cinematography deserves a mention too. The stand-out scene for me was when Charlie Wilson was taken to Afghanistan to see the refugee camps for himself. There's a tight shot of him looking bewildered by the number of people all around him and the way they are living. The shot widens out to show more and more tents until Wilson is just a speck on the screen surrounded by millions of tents. It's the turning point at which Wilson decides he is going to take action.
I saw this film at the cinema and thought it was great on the big screen - hope it works just as well on DVD!
I actually thought the ending was very powerful as it was (not really spoiling this as everyone knows the result of Mudjahadeen v USSR!!) with Charlie and his friends celebrating, the other politicians now ignoring Afghanistan and Gust warning about the danger of saying 'everything worked out well in the end' before the story's really over. One of those clever cinema moments when the audience knows more than the characters do.
Posted by: Lloyd J | June 24, 2008 3:57 PM