The Popkorn Junkie :: Charlie Wilson's War

      I’m not sure how accurate this “based on a true story” film is, but it is fun, interesting and somewhat inspiring to see how a minor congressman and the sixth richest woman in Texas might have changed the world. Moving quickly from Las Vegas to DC to Afghanistan, the first three quarters of the film is so tightly written it sounded like a play. It is quick, clever, and close to being silly -- like a good English stage comedy. Then, like the Russians in Afghanistan, the film seems to bog down to a crawl. The final 20 minutes plays out the obvious. But it’s worth it.

      Hoffman, as always, did a great job. His character as the too-many-times-‘round-the-block streetwise CIA agent steals the show. I didn’t like the way his character looked though… it seemed like someone in a Halloween costume, it just looked too theatrical. Hanks did a good job too in his understated way.

      There is a bit of nudity in the beginning of the film that made me wonder how far they were planning to go with it, but as sit turns out, it was just to establish Hanks’ congressman as playboy credentials. A few of the scenes in Afghanistan are a bit gory, especially when they are illustrating how the Russians purportedly injured children in order to drain Afgan medical resources. What a world.

      Did this secret war actually change the world for the better? If feels like to did, but as the Zen Master says, “we’ll see.”

-- Pappy ( 3 out of 4 pops )

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