Charlie Wilson's War

***1/2 Stars

I think Charlie Wilson's War suffered from what people were calling the Dreamgirl effect, where the buzz was so strong, that anything short of stellar would be a major letdown. Maybe that happened with Dreamgirls, but not with Charlie Wilson's War, which lives up to its massive hype.

Tom Hanks is and probably always will be the actor that has inspired me the most. I grew up on all his films. I basically know every line to Forrest Gump and Apollo 13, Toy Story is my favorite animated film, and I consider him the James Stewart of our generation. So in Charlie Wilson's War, I knew Tom Hanks would impress me and I'm glad to see him give his best performance since Cast Away.

Charlie Wilson was a single and boozing womanizer who would rather have a glass of whiskey at ten in the morning and flirt with his assistants than work on his reputation as a Congressman from Texas. This story is based off the 2003 book Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile III, which was adapted to the screen by the dialogue king Aaron Sorkin (created The West Wing and the very underrated Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). The film begins with him drinking whiskey and flirting with strippers in a Vegas penthouse jacuzzi. This is the set up to the man who was the biggest influence in ending the Cold War. Some of our greatest leaders have fit this description. FDR stopped prohibition and would rarely go a day without a martini and Kennedy was in numerous scandals involving sexual relations with women (Elvis may have killed him over Ann Margaret is still a conspiracy. OK, I'm joking). What's interesting about Wilson is the way his flaws actually gave some positive impact towards his decisions.

Julia Roberts plays Joanne Herring, voted the sixth most beautiful woman in Texas. Wilson's weakness towards women let Joanne convince him to take down the Soviet Empire. Charlie and Joanne bumped uglies and then he began his plan to raise the budget (that aided Afghanistan's fight over the Soviets) from $5 million to a hell of a lot more. Over time, Wilson managed to raise over one billion dollars. He claimed that if the U.S shot down the helicopters then they would win the war. In a way, he made the perfect decision.

The film is proof that women have a certain power of men. Charlie Wilson had a kind heart but would jump at the chance to get with a woman. Joanne took her power of stunning beauty and used it to convince this man to take down one of the biggest empires in the world. With the help of a bored CIA specialist named Gust Avrakotos (the always amazing Philip Seymour Hoffman), the two travel from country to country trying to bring allies together. When the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall fell, Wilson went to congress to ask for a mere $1 million dollars to rebuild a school in Afghanistan. They rejected the reconstruction of the city and Wilson claims that we had the right objective in mind, but "we fucked up the end game."

This is another successful film involving the important issues of today. Even though this took place in the Reagan years, it still brings questions to the table involving foreign issues and the mistakes of political decisions. What makes this such an entertaining film is how blisteringly funny it is. When Wilson is leaving a limo with two strippers inside it, they ask why he was to leave. He claimed that he had to vote for something involving the Boy Scouts of America. The stripper responds with a snappy "Are you fucking kidding me?" Line for line, Sorkin never misses a beat, even though some moments are a bit silly (there are moments when things are a bit too staged as when Wilson's assistants are helping him cover a scandal he was involved in). But who cares? The scene is so fun and so confident that it works. Plus, Amy Adams plays his personal assistant who I am growing to love more and more in each film I see her in (if you haven't seen her Oscar nominated role in Junebug, you are missing out). This is a refreshing and lighter look at important issues and history that feels like a politically charged Thank You for Smoking. Directed by Hollywood legend Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Closer), Charlie Wilson's War is carried with the wit and snappy comedy to allow anyone to walk away satisfied. Hanks and Hoffman are a duo of jocular strength, capturing the other side of what the media brings us. Who said history has to always be taken seriously?