REVIEW: CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR

aka Bachelor Party 2

Charlie Wilson's War is Mike Nichols's latest film, with a script by Aaron Sorkin and starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Charlie Wilson(Hanks) is a senator from Texas who though he seems of little importance actually turns out to be a great influence on the Cold War. He also likes to party down.* Hell, he leads the Senate sub-committee on partying down. Charlie Wilson's War is essentially a sequel in spirit to one of Hanks's first films, Bachelor Party, if his character in that film became a senator but kept that party going another 20 years. And just like Bachelor Party, this film is very entertaining, yet leaves me incredibly depressed.**

I'm not going to talk much about the acting in this film. It's all great work as usual from Hanks, Roberts, Hoffman and Amy Adams in a supporting role as Wilson's assistant. What is really interesting about Charlie Wilson's War is the surface level of the film and how that has played into the marketing. The trailers and commercials make it seem like your average Oscar baiting, one man can do it, America can do it, crowd pleasing film. At some points it even feels like that type of movie, but its really not.

The opening scene of the film places Wilson in front of the American flag while a banner at the other end of the room reads "Charlie Did It!" Charlie is there accepting an award from the CIA for his part in arming Afghanistan against the invading Soviet forces. Nichols then flashes back to how everything unfolded until he returns to the same scene he began with. Except this time its prefaced with a short scene of the senator drinking and crying in frustration over his inability to convince anyone to rebuild Afghanistan. The exact same scene shown exactly the same way, but with different context. It's these little reminders of context, like the unyielding hatred between an Israeli arms dealer and an Egyptian official; and Gust's(Hoffman) commentary on the dubious religious motives of Joanne Herring(Julia Roberts) that really set the movie's tone. Underneath all these Cold War dealings, something much worse is brewing.

In the end, while Charlie Wilson's War does show that one man can indeed make a difference, it also ponders the ramifications of that change. Obvious parallels are drawn to the current problems in Iraq and what the United States will do once all the terrorists are out of Iraq. Will the people of Iraq just be forgotten like the people of Afghanistan only to breed more contempt for America? Once all the Communists are out, they, along with Charlie are quickly ignored as yesterday's news. As the real Charlie Wilson says in a quote at the end of the film, "We fucked up the end game." I know some people may have been on the fence about seeing this movie because of how it was marketed, but I really can't recommend it enough. Charlie Wilson's War will make you laugh, it will make you think and it will probably depress the shit out of you. Go see it, but for your own sake, don't watch Munich beforehand or you'll just want to kill yourself before the world explodes because of fanatics on all sides.

* A key element to his partying down is whiskey. Charlie Wilson is drinking whiskey in at least every other scene in this film. It really made me want a glass of whiskey. Whiskey whiskey whiskey.

** Charlie Wilson's War depresses me because of its commentary on the ever worsening situation in the Middle East. Bachelor Party just brings me down afterwards because I know my bachelor party won't be that awesome, which is sad because it won't be as good as the movie that wasn't as good as Animal House.