Charlie Wilson's War (film)

Charlie Wilson's War
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mike Nichols
Written by	George Crile (novel) Aaron Sorkin (screenplay)
Produced by	Tom Hanks
Starring	Tom Hanks Julia Roberts Philip Seymour Hoffman Amy Adams Ned Beatty
Cinematography	Stephen Goldblatt
Edited by	John Bloom
Music by	James Newton Howard
Distributed by	Universal Pictures Playtone
Release dates	December 21, 2007
Running time	100 min.
Country	United States
Languages	English Dari Urdu
Budget	$75 million

Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 film about Democratic Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, who conspired with a rogue CIA operative named Gust Avrakotos to launch an operation to help the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. The film is adapted from George Crile's 2003 book Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History. Directed by Mike Nichols, written by Aaron Sorkin, and starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Ned Beatty, the film was nominated in 2007 for five Golden Globe Awards, including "Best Motion Picture."

Synopsis

Urged on by his staunchly anti-communist friend and romantic interest, Joanne Herring, Wilson leads the effort to provide United States funds indirectly to the Afghan Mujahideen. In the process, the film also reveals Wilson as a Congressman whose disdain for the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan is supplemented by his gregarious social life of women and partying, including a federal investigation into his alleged cocaine use that never resulted in any charges.

Herring persuades Wilso to visit the Pakistani leadership who complain about the inadequate support to oppose the Soviets and insist he visit a major Afghan refugee camp. Deeply moved by their misery and determination to fight, Wilson is frustrated by the regional CIA personnel's insistence on a low key approach against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Wilson leads an effort to substantially increase funding to the mujahideen in his role as a member of two major Congressional defense committees. As part of this efort, Wilson befriends the maverick CIA operative Gust Avrakotos and his understaffed Afghanistan group to find a better strategy, especially including a means to counter the Soviets' formidable gunship helicopter air support. As a result, Wilson's deft political bargaining for the necessary funding and Avrakotos' group's careful planning using those resources, such as supplying the guerrillas with FIM-92 Stinger missile launchers, turn the Soviet occupation into a deadly quagmire with their heavy fighting vehicles being destroyed at a crippling rate. This effort by Wilson ultimately evolves into a major portion of the U.S. foreign policy known as the Reagan Doctrines, under which the U.S. expanded assistance beyond just the mujahideen and began also supporting other anti-communist resistance movements around the world. The policy was controversial, although some now credit the policy with contributing to the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union and global communism, bringing about the end of the Cold War.."

Despite the victory, Avrakotos warns that unless there is a serious effort to help Afghanistan rebuild back into a stable society, there could be dire and unpredictable repercussions for both that nation and the U.S. Unfortunately, Wilson finds exceptionally little enthusiasm in the government for even the modest measures he proposes to heed this warning. The film ends with Wilson receiving a major commendation for the support of the U.S. clandestine services, but his pride is sadly tempered by his fears of what unintended consequences his secret efforts could yield in the future and the implications of U.S. disengagement from Afghanistan. The implied warning involves both the rise of the extremist Taliban regime and the September 11th terrorist attacks, though this is never specifically mentioned.

Cast

• Tom Hanks as Representative Charlie Wilson (b. 1933–)
• Julia Roberts as Joanne Herring (b. 1929–)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman as Gust Avrakotos (1938–2005)
• Ned Beatty as Doc Long (1908–1994)
• Om Puri as President Zia-Ul-Haq (1924–1988)
• Amy Adams as Bonnie Bach
• Emily Blunt as Jane Liddle
• Shiri Appleby as Jailbait (Congressional staffer)
• Rachel Nichols as Suzanne
• Christopher Denham as Michael G. Vickers (b. 1953–)
• Ken Stott as Zvi
• Tracy Phillips as belly dancer

Release and reception

The film was originally set for release on December 25, 2007; on November 30, however, the timetable was moved up to December 21. As of January 7, 2008, the film has made $52,630,000 domestically and $589,091 overseas for a worldwide total of $53,219,091.

Charlie Wilson's War received generally favorable reviews from critics. As of December 24, 2007, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 83% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 129 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 67 out of 100, based on 36 reviews.

Reagan-era officials have criticized several components of the film. The Washington Times (which is actually mentioned in the film) reported that the film wrongly promotes the notion that the CIA-led operation funded Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda and ultimately produced the September 11, 2001 attacks. The United States government and others often assert that it was native Afghan fighters, not foreign Arabs like Bin Laden, who received U.S. aid during the conflict. Additionally, while the film depicts Wilson as an advocate for sending Stinger missiles, a former Reagan administration official recalls that Wilson, while an advocate for the mujahideen, was actually only "luke warm" on the idea of supplying these missiles. They were actually not supplied until the second Reagan administration term, in 1987, and their provision was mostly advocated by Reagan defense officials and influential conservatives.

Historical context

The interventionist policy of aiding anti-communist resistance forces in Afghanistan enjoyed considerable bipartisan support in the U.S. However, while Wilson was a Democrat, the policy's broader and highly controversial application around the world, in Angola, Cambodia, Nicaragua and other nations, was largely opposed by U.S. Democrats. The policy was mostly a creation of the conservative Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, whose foreign policy experts visited with these forces and advocated support for them. The policy was later embraced by Reagan administration foreign policy and defense officials, who escalated conflict with these Soviet-supported governments. Jimmy Carter distanced himself from the policy's broader application and was a vocal opponent of U.S. aid to these movements. Congressional Democrats also largely opposed the broader application of the Reagan Doctrine.

Wilson has since recounted that, "I always, always, whenever a plane goes down, I always fear it is one of our missiles. Most of all I wanted to bloody the Red Army. I think the bloodying thereof had a great deal to do with the collapse of the Soviet Union." Carter's National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski has stated that the U.S. effort to aid the mujahideen was preceded by an effort to draw the Soviets into a costly and presumably distractive Vietnam War-like conflict. In a 1998 interview with the French news magazine Le Nouvel Observateur, Brzezinski recalled: "We didn't push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would...That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Soviets into the Afghan trap...The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter. We now have the opportunity of giving to the Soviet Union its Vietnam War."

Film errors

• When Charlie is meeting with the Dairy Queen businessman from Nacogdoches to discuss the placement of a creche in front of a fire station rather than a church, they repeatedly refer to the general area as "Nacogdoches Township." There are no townships in Texas.

Awards and nominations

Nominations

• 65th Golden Globe Awards
  • Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (Tom Hanks)
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Philip Seymour Hoffman)
  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Julia Roberts)
  • Best Screenplay - Motion Picture (Aaron Sorkin)

See also

• Operation Cyclone
• Milton Bearden

External links

• Official Site of Charlie Wilson's War
• Charlie Wilson's War at IMDb
• Charlie Wilson's War at Rotten Tomatoes
• Charlie Wilson's War at Metacritic
• Charlie Wilson's War at Box Office Mojo
• Charlie Wilson's War at AllMovie
• Tom Hanks Tells Hollywood Whopper in 'Charlie Wilson's War'