This film answers the question "how sicked out will I get if I ever see Tom Hanks' naked buttocks". There's gratuitous nudity and then there's a middle aged man pointing his middle aged bum at the camera for no good reason. Hey Tom, it didn't go to moving the plot along, you didn't need to do it. Save it for your wife, she married you, let her live with the image. Let the rest of us alone.

If you can struggle past seeing Hanks' wrinkled, pale mud flaps, you will find a fantastic movie. Hanks is perfectly cast as Good Time Charlie Wilson. Wilson, a hard-living congressman, was responsible for pushing the CIA's largest covert operation giving support to Afghan Mujahideen who were fighting against the Soviets and their puppets in the Communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Hanks is perfect for the role because of his ability to charm. This is critical for the role because under any criteria, Wilson is bad guy. He's a drinker, womanizing hog, living off the teat of his constituents. Hanks is able to overwhelm the negatives and provide us with a charismatic lead we can get behind.

Supporting Hanks is Philip Seymour Hoffman as Gust Avrakotos, a CIA agent who guides Wilson through the political and special ops minefields of building a war against the Soviets via Afghanistan. Hoffman, like Hanks, is a reliable talent who tackles even his minor scenes with zeal. The two work together wonderfully as does most of the rest of the cast. The only fault is in Julia Robert's performance. She is a performer, a personality, not an actress and her inability to give her performance any depth is striking when she's put up against Hanks and Hoffman. Her numerous scenes feel like an extended cameo more than a support role.

Smartly, the script by Aaron Sorkin (The American President) is light on overt agenda. In this day and age it is important to note when someone (particularly someone like Sorkin) avoids turning their work into some cheap kick in the shins to their political opposition. The story is played as straight as possible and avoids the barbs of today's conflicts. Obviously, this film was made in reaction to the events on and after 9/11, but those connections are left as being inherent and not constantly hammered like one may expect. This gives the film a comfortable appeal for both sides of the aisle. We can watch the film with 20/20 hindsight and are left to consider the implications on our own.

This is a solid piece of storytelling and worth at least one viewing. If you haven't seen it, check it out, seeing Hanks and Hoffman together is worth the price of admission.


Cautions: Like swearing? Like swearing done very effectively? If so, this movie is for you. Tons of cursing permeate this movie. To be fair, the swearing is a natural byproduct of the characters, and it is cleverly peppered in the script. This said, some audience members may be offended. If the swearing disturbs you then I won't bother going into the nudity, sexual discussions and other adult content that makes up a majority of the narrative.


Worldview: Charlie Wilson defies his personality and his history to push for a covert war that served to give the Soviets a well deserved kick in their collectivist rumps. This covert war also seeded the Islamofacist movement we're battling today. Watching Wilson lopping the head off the foreign policy hydra seems to show the futility of rising above our human nature and doing "the right thing". Despite the claims of morons everywhere, people aren't inherently good - we're bad. Humans do the darnedest things and when I say "darnedest" I mean the most vile and despicable acts of craven self-interest. When we choose to do good (and I selected the word "choose" intentionally), when its not done to satisfy personal ends, we are casting aside our natures and attempting to live beyond ourselves. We know ultimately everything we do in this life will pass and most things we set right will eventually turn wrong once again. The point here is to keep doing what is right, what is good. For when we do good, we elevate ourselves to be more like God. Trying to be more like God may be as futile as standing on your tiptoes in an effort to be as tall as the Sears Tower, but every little bit does count. Our machinations are as flawed as we are and doing the right thing is a slippery proposition because the facts on the ground tend to change over time. Even knowing our good may spoil (as they did in this case), we are still asked to do our best. God knows we are faulty, broken by sin. This is why he has plans for us to be perfected. Before the mending comes our task is to fight our impulses and do as much good as we can, while we can.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." - Galatians 6:9

For you non-believers, think of it this way, if there's no afterlife, then all that will remain of you is the fleeting memory by those near you. You will be remembered for your actions. Your acts today decide your obituary tomorrow. Will the summation of your life be positive or negative? Charlie Wilson may have been a bad man but it is his good acts that will really define him. Even a bad man who despite himself does the right thing is preferable to good men are virtuous but who do nothing.


Related Reviews:
Tom Hanks movies
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
The Da Vinci Code (2006)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Monsters and Critics
Film Critics United

Labels: film, Julia Roberts, movie review, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Hanks