Charlie Wilson's War DVD Review

"Charlie Wilson's War" reviews

DVD

Charlie Wilson's War

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-05-08 09:32:16

Provider

MRIB

DVD Review

Of all the films to misjudge the American public's appetite for War On Terror-related stories, Charlie Wilson's War was the best placed to succeed. It had gigantic stars (Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts), the wit of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (West Wing) and a storyline that was, by the anti-war standards of flops like Redacted, positively jingoistic. Yet, while it averted the disastrous returns of Brian De Palma's aforementioned, it still disappointed at the box office.

Hanks plays the eponymous playboy congressman, Roberts the Texan millionairess who between them arrange for the covert funding of the Mujahideen battling the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the burnt-out CIA agent who does the spadework, but it's Hanks' Wilson who has all the laughs and most of the best lines (a Sorkin script is never short of zingers), bedding women, downing whisky and plotting the demise of the old Soviet Union.

If there's a flaw it's that the film, not unlike Wilson himself, seems just a trifle too pleased with itself. Hoffman's character hints that it's not all self-congratulation at the impending collapse of the Soviet empire, that the Taliban were only just around the corner. But for an original and entertaining take on recent history, Charlie Wilson's War stands out in a disappointing crowd.

Extras include a Making Of featurette and the documentary Who Is Charlie Wilson?

Copyright © MRIB 2008.