Charlie Wilson's War

Sue Says:

3.5 Stars

Hmm. I was going to give this movie 4 stars. Then I started writing my review and I liked it less and less. It was worth seeing, and I would recommend it, if for no other reason, because it has the potential to be a great discussion starter.

I will start off by saying I love “true” stories, government, and history. This movie is, of course, about Senator Charlie Wilson and how he became involved with the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s. I felt it did a pretty good job telling the basics of the story. It doesn’t get too political, it mainly covers Wilson’s involvement, which is fine, that’s the idea being it’s based on a memoir.

Tom Hanks is not always my favorite, but I thought he did okay here. Julia Roberts gets on my nerves and I found her to be a little distracting. B-U-T Phillip Seymour Hoffman stole the show.

Side note--A lot of actors seem the same in every role. I think that’s because most of the time the character they are playing becomes just an exaggeration of the personality traits they already posses. Without too much trouble I could see Charlie Wilson being Forest Gump, or Julia Roberts being, you know, Julia Roberts as she is on Oprah, but Phillip Seymour Hoffman is one of the few actors who really becomes someone else every time. -- I also thought Amy Adams was okay, better than she was in Enchanted, so that’s something, right?

A movie like this can either leave you just entertained or it can leave you with plenty to think about. I am the latter. After a movie like this I always think-“Well, if one man can see what needs to be done, and can accomplish so much, why don’t more people get busy?” Of course the answer is that everyone has their own agenda and plenty of people are getting things done, just not the things I think should be getting done.

Overall, I think it was good. For me it could have dug a little deeper, but if you didn’t even know that the Russians invaded Afghanistan, it’s a great start. –Back to my soap box. The problem with these kinds of movies is that they are entertaining, and somewhat thought provoking, but by making it so mainstream and commercial, it misses, just slightly. It almost makes you think about the future consequences of our (the United States) actions, but it’s not quite there. Those who already know of our government’s tendency to make a mess of things might find this type of film annoying, and those who have great faith and trust in our government just see this as a funny movie with that guy from Bosom Buddies and that Julia Roberts who they loved in Pretty Woman.

In conclusion, it was okay.

Todd Says:

4 STARS

I thought that this movie was both insightful and funny. It is about one terribly flawed man (Sen. Charlie Wilson) who decides to do the right thing for once. It's also about how and why other people in Washington try to manipulate him in their own ways and to their own means. Yes, it's a historical movie, but no it's not boring or dry. It's probably more factual than the evening news on most major networks, and it's definitely more entertaining.

I agree that Julia Roberts is once again annoying (and a little creepy), but Hanks and Hoffman carry this movie where it needs to go. I found myself amazed at how candid the story is about Sen. Wilson's life, and also how a man with such an apparent lack of scruples could push so many people so hard to do a good thing.

All in all, this is most definitely worth your time. I don't think you'll regret it.

Alexis says:

3 STARS

I thought this movie was interesting and enjoyable and I even liked Julia Roberts' performance (being a Pretty Woman fan) but I just wasn't in love with it or all that moved. Yeah, it gives some insight to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Hoffman was pretty good but I just didn't really love it, and I really wanted to see it. Overall, the movie was entertaining and slightly educational and I would recommend that you view it, at your convenience (not necessarily your 'earliest').