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by Jeff Eason |
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Charlie Wilson’s War sheds
light on USSR invasion of Afghanistan
Starting in 1973, ABC-TV began broadcasting little
cartoon segments on Saturday mornings under the banner
Schoolhouse Rock. Sandwiched between episodes of Scooby-Doo,
Lidsville and the Road Runner Comedy Hour, these educational
animated pieces used songs and humor to teach kids about
multiplication, grammar, science and American history.
Charlie Wilson (Tom
Hanks) visits an Afghani refugee camp in Pakistan
in the new movie Charlie Wilson’s War.
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Tom Hanks and Julia
Roberts star in the new Mike Nichols film Charlie
Wilson’s War. |
I don’t know effective they were. I do know that
35 years later, I can still sing nearly all the words
to “Conjunction Junction.”
Mike Nichols’ new film about the Soviet invasion
of Afghanistan in the 1980s, Charlie Wilson’s War,
has a distinctive Schoolhouse Rock element to it. With
a fast-moving script, clever wordplay and some slap-dash
humor where you least expect it, the movie tells an interesting
story about a part of American history that has been sadly
neglected.
Charlie Wilson’s War stars Tom Hanks in the title
role: a small-time Texas Congressman whose main job is
to make his constituents happy with legislation that will
keep taxes low and guns legal. This being the early days
of the Reagan Era, those tasks pretty much took care of
themselves. That left Charlie with plenty of time for
various vintages of whiskey and women.
When Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts)—the sixth wealthiest
woman in Texas—convinces Wilson to come to Pakistan
to see the Afghani refugees displaced by the Soviet incursion,
he acquires a mission beyond partying and legal favor-trading.
Wilson’s position on two Congressional subcommittees
puts him in a perfect position to increase the funding
of America’s covert attempt to help the Mujahideen,
the Afghani resistance fighters who are staging an uphill
battle against the Soviets and their superior firepower.
When Wilson teams up with disgruntled CIA operative Gust
Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman), he gains enough leverage
with the various organizations in the federal government
to eventually increase the budget in the covert operation
from $5 million to $500 million.
It all sounds like a dry history lesson where we learn
who pulled the strings backstage that led to the end of
the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. But Charlie
Wilson’s War is so much more than that. It is emotionally
moving, terribly funny and sarcastic at times, and a racy
reminder of an era when members of the Congress and Senate
were leaders as opposed to followers.
As an ensemble piece, Charlie Wilson’s War is about
as good as it gets. The scenes where Wilson and Avrakotos
first get to know each other are first rate as two Academy
Award-winning actors let the verbal sparks fly where they
may. Coming off her superb turns in Junebug and Enchanted,
Amy Adams shows the right balance of restraint and “sassy”
as Bonnie Bach, Wilson’s chief congressional aide.
Julia Roberts is serviceable, if a little stiff, as Herring,
one of those holier-than-thou Southern women who believe
that with enough time and fundraisers they can deliver
the world to Jesus.
As a history lesson, Charlie Wilson’s War is incredibly
informative for people wondering how Afghanistan fell
into the hands of the Taliban after the Soviets left,
and how tribal areas in that country became so well armed.
Charlie Wilson’s War was written by Aaron Sorkin
and contains his best work since the heyday of TV’s
The West Wing and his previous military film A Few Good
Men. It is dialogue writing at its finest and it is easy
to see why the film attracted the talents of so many Oscar-worthy
actors.
Charlie Wilson’s War is rated R for strong language,
nudity/sexual content and some drug use. It is currently
playing at Regal Cinema in Boone.
I viewed Charlie Wilson’s War on the same
day that Benazir Bhutto was assassinated after a political
rally in Pakistan. The events of that day gave parts of
the movie where Charlie Wilson travels to Pakistan to
meet with President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (played by actor
Om Puri) an eerie resonance. President Zia came to power
when he overthrew Bhutto’s father, Prime Minister
Zulfikar Ali Butto in a military coup during the summer
of 1977.
Bhutto was subsequently tried and hanged by Zia’s
government despite protests from many sectors of the international
community.
At one point in Charlie Wilson’s War, Julia Roberts’
character introduces President Zia to a group of fundraiser
by saying, “He did not kill Bhutto.”
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