If the Da Vinci Code taught us anything it was to never underestimate Tom Hanks with a bad hair cut, so Charlie Wilson’s War could be HUGE! 

Based on the true story so wacky you have to believe it, Hanks stars as Texas congressman Charlie Wilson – a good old boy who loves drinking, carousing and beautiful women (who doesn’t?).  It’s 1980, and Charlie isn’t known for much around the halls of Congress, but he is a likable fellow who knows how to make a deal and help out someone who can repay the favor at a later date.  He’s also the chairman of the subcommittee overseeing the CIA’s covert operations budget.  When the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, Charlie sees an opportunity to make a difference and help defeat communism, but he will need the help of a rich socialite, Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts), and a rough around the edges, bitter CIA operative, Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman). 

Can this motley crew arm and fund the Afghanis against one of the best military forces the world has ever known, without drawing the United States into a direct confrontation with the Soviets?

Charlie Wilson’s War is the movie you want to see this holiday vacation due to the top notch script and fantastic acting, which makes it one of my favorite movies of the year.  Writer Aaron Sorkin (based on the novel by George Crile) produces some of the best writing we have seen from him since the early days of The West Wing.  He fills the movie with playful exchanges, wit, sharp comebacks and cutting one-liners you wish you thought of.  Yet, Sorkin and director Mike Nichols never sacrifice the story for some cheap laughs.  They take a very complicated situation and make it easy to follow and understand (Thank God!  I tried to read the book and gave up at chapter 5).        

Then, Nichols gets out of the way of his stars, so they can capture the audience’s mind and attention.  Hanks is wonderfully charming as the lovable rogue, but he also shows us how Wilson is sly like a fox and an extremely intelligent man behind the party boy exterior.  He is one of the few actors who can make the silliest portions of Charlie Wilson’s War funny when they need to be, then turn around and blow us away with the real emotion and drama the film presents to us without overdoing it and trying to create Oscar moments.  

Meanwhile, Hoffman has probably earned another Oscar nomination for his brilliant, dead pan portrayal of the angry CIA field operative.  Part comic relief, and part menacing figure, Hoffman makes Gust into a scene stealer. 

I hope Charlie Wilson’s War gets the attention it deserves as it battles singing barbers, book of secrets seekers and those great debaters. 

4 Waffles (Out of 4)

Charlie Wilson's War is rated R for strong language, nudity/sexual content and some drug use. 

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