Movie: Charlie Wilson's War

[brihard]

So the girlfriend and I went down to see Charlie Wilson's War last night on its opening night here in Kingston.

As a backgrounder, Charlie Wilson was the pretty much no-name congressman from Texas who first took an interest in the exploits of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan against the soviets. He also happened to be on the right committees to get something done about it, and spearheaded the drastic increase in U.S. aid to the resistance, ultimately ousting the Soviets from Afghanistan.

Tom Hanks did a brilliant job playing the hard drinking, womanizing Charlie Wilson, about as enjoyable a character as I've seen Hanks play in a long time. Julia Roberts costarred as a wealthy Texan with a particular interest in helping the Afghans, who pushes Wilson into making things happen. Phillip Seymour Hoffmann plays Gust Avrakotos, a CIA officer who helps spearhead the CIA efforts. The character interplay between these three was extraordinarily witty and very fast paced.

People not already somewhat familiar with the history of Soviet Afghanistan may find themselves barely keeping up, but anyone who's read about it should love the film. The historical aspects are reasonably acurate as far as I can determine. I don't know how accurate the portrayal of Charlie Wilson himself is, but I've not found anything saying that it misses the mark, either.

In any case, it's a very entertaining portrayal of how the U.S. got into Afghansitan. I'd whole heartedly reccommend it to anyone with an interest in that bit of history. Plus it has Tom Hanks.

 

[Penny]

    I recently saw this movie with several friends, and the ending gave a good explanation for the whole "opening the can of worms" idea. This lead to some good conversation debating the events following the withdraw of Russian troops. Tom Hanks also did a good job of portraying Wilson. From what I've read about the man, Hanks was bang on.

  Without giving away anything for those that haven't seen it, the movie ending explained some of how the power vacuum was created after the Russians left the area and leaves with a strong message in Wilson's final question.

  I would be interested in a film about the period of time following the Russian withdrawal and the ensuing power struggle.  Until then I'll just keep reading about it.  If you can recommend a book that covers the period after the Russian withdrawal, please send me a personal message. Thanks.

- Penny

 

[ModlrMike]

I'm not sure that it will answer your questions about the power vacuum, as I'm only half way through, but Ghost Wars is an excellent book on the rise of the Taliban.

Ghost Wars

 

[Penny]

ModlrMike,
re: Ghost Wars
Thanks, I'll check it out.

 

[Jacqueline]

I enjoyed this movie, however at times did not know exactly what they were talking about. The real Charlie Wilson states in an article in The Ottawa Citizen that they made him look "too good". But Tom Hanks performance was convincing (to me).  Good and entertaining, and informative flick. Julia Roberts was great too.

*Phil Hoffman was hilarious*

 

[Yrys]

I like the movie, but was wondering how Charlie Wilson's wife reacted to it,
as he seems to be a "lady's man" , and who exactly is the socialite woman (portrait by Julia Roberts) ...

 

[leroi]

    I recently saw this movie with several friends, and the ending gave a good explanation for the whole "opening the can of worms" idea. This lead to some good conversation debating the events following the withdraw of Russian troops. Tom Hanks also did a good job of portraying Wilson. From what I've read about the man, Hanks was bang on.

  Without giving away anything for those that haven't seen it, the movie ending explained some of how the power vacuum was created after the Russians left the area and leaves with a strong message in Wilson's final question.

   I would be interested in a film about the period of time following the Russian withdrawal and the ensuing power struggle.  Until then I'll just keep reading about it.  If you can recommend a book that covers the period after the Russian withdrawal, please send me a personal message. Thanks.

- Penny

You might find "The Kiterunner" interesting in that respect. The film is well-done but the book by Khalid Hosseini (hope I got his name right) is even better--gives a more comprehensive, detailed account of the impact of the Soviet invasion on one Afghan family and by extension it's effect on that country.

The story's timeline spans about 30 years and follows the friendship of two young Afghan boys pre-Soviet invasion, during and after. I won't spoil the ending for you but it's a tremendous read/excellent movie. Although fiction, the historical details are accurate.

 

[Yrys]

The real Charlie Wilson: 'War' got it right

(CNN) -- "Good Time Charlie's" recovering from the blues. Seven months ago, Charlie Wilson -- the former Texas congressman whose story became the book
and film "Charlie Wilson's War" -- had heart transplant surgery. Recovery was going well until he went to the Los Angeles premiere of the film -- with his doctor, no less.
(His wife went, too, of course.)

"I really wasn't able to enjoy all the hoopla ... over the film because I had come to the premiere against my doctor's wishes, and I paid a terrible price for that
afterwards," he says in a phone interview from New York, alluding to what he calls "a setback." But he's feeling much better now, he adds, and he's finally getting a
chance to promote the film in which he's the central character. ("Charlie Wilson's War" came out on DVD Tuesday.)

Indeed, Charlie Wilson loves life in general. The U.S. Naval Academy grad and Navy veteran was elected to Congress in 1972, a Democrat bucking the Nixon landslide,
and quickly became known for his high-living escapades, which earned him the nickname "Good Time Charlie," and shrewd accumulation of political chits. His savvy
came in handy in the early '80s, when Wilson, a staunch anti-Communist, decided to help Afghan rebels in their war against the invading Soviet Union. Over several
years, working behind the scenes, his efforts to raise funding through his defense subcommittee, to establish a bond with a CIA agent named Gust Avrakotos (played by
Philip Seymour Hoffman in the film) and to negotiate support from Middle Eastern countries helped the Afghans take the upper hand -- and eventually forced the Soviets
out of the country. Video Watch Wilson in a bonus scene from the DVD »

Asked what led to the Soviet departure, Pakistani leader Gen. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq was blunt: "Charlie did it," he told "60 Minutes."

CNN talked to Wilson about seeing himself on film, the political climate and how he'll be remembered. The following is an edited version of that interview.
Q: Are you happy with the way the film came out?

CHARLIE WILSON: I really was happy with the film, yes. I didn't expect them to be able to hew as closely to the book as they did. It only had an hour and 37 minutes,
and they really got a lot in there. ... Hanks did a great job. And Philip Seymour Hoffman did a stupendous job.

Q: What was your reaction when you saw Hanks portraying you, and Julia Roberts portraying Joanne Herring, and actors playing other people you know?

WILSON: It just put me in a fog of wonder and disbelief.

Q: Was it a case where you thought: This person wouldn't talk like that?

WILSON: No, no, no, they were too close to the truth. Philip Seymour Hoffman, for instance, was Gust Avrakotos. He deserved that Oscar. I wish he'd have gotten it.

Q: Were you an adviser on the film?

WILSON: No, no. I was there a lot. My wife and I were on the set a lot. But we were just there at the pleasure of Mike Nichols, and we did a lot of begging -- or I
did a lot of begging -- on the script and that sort of thing. But I had no authority whatsoever.

Q: Some of the criticism of the film is that it didn't do enough to highlight the blowback that was to come in this decade [when Afghanistan was taken over by the
Taliban and became a base for al Qaeda]. Is that a fair criticism, or did the film do what it was supposed to do?

WILSON: I think it did what it was supposed to do. If it had a blowback, now it's blowing the other way, if we can just get our focus back on Afghanistan.

I don't think there was a serious blowback. I think there was the point that [author] George Crile made in the [book's] epilogue, that the Muslims saw that they took
down one superpower and then the radical ones thought they could take down another one. But they're wrong.

Q: There's also a lot of talk about transparency now. (Wilson chuckles.) This operation was done largely covertly -- and it had a lot of success because of that.

WILSON: That's right, you can't do everything transparently. This was opaque and it had to be opaque, and had it not been, it wouldn't have succeeded. But to be
opaque, it had to have bipartisan support. It had to have enthusiastic bipartisan support. But bipartisan support that didn't go to the press, and try to take credit.

Q: Is that still possible?

WILSON: I don't think so. I was talking to [talk show host and former congressman] Joe Scarborough this morning and we were discussing that, and we were both pessimistic.

Q: Is that because of the partisanship, or because everyone has a blog now, and even the slightest nugget gets out and gets blown all the Internet?

WILSON: I think you hit the two. One is the bitterness and the extreme partisanship, and the other is the blogs and the cable shows.
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Q: A lot of times the movie becomes the final word on something -- It's been said that some schoolchildren's idea of the Kennedy assassination comes from Oliver
Stone. Would you mind if, when people think of Charlie Wilson, they think of the film "Charlie Wilson's War"? Or would you hope that they have the sense to read the
book, to look into your legislative history or earlier?

WILSON: I'm not a stickler. I'll take the movie.

 

[T-Rex]

Saw the movie not to bad, Read the book it gives you some real insight.