Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Yep, I do wanna see this movie a whole bunch. Here's another review from the first test screening of CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR, a full three months early (so keep in mind this is an unfinished print).
Hey guys. I was apart of the first audience to see the first screening of the Charlie Wilson's War. I just wanted to report a review and tell how much the film kicked ass as well as how much Phil kicked some major ass. This year seems to be the year of the political movie. We have Paul Haggis's In the Valley of Elah, Peter Berg's The Kingdom, and Robert Redford's Lion and lambs to name a few. Not since the Vietnam War are we going to hear so many liberals using film as a Soap Box. Don't get me wrong, there is good reason for it and some great films have come out of that, Apocalypse Now, All the President's Men, etc., but it also gets a little tiresome after a while. The good news is Charlie Wilson's War is a break from that. Is it political, yes, does it have a message, yes, but what separates Charlie Wilson's War from those other film is that it's a political film that's damn hell entertaining with having to be an over the top satire. This film is hysterical, thought provoking, and has some Oscar worthy performances, most notably by Philip Seymour Hoffman but we'll get to that later. The film is about Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) a swinging, alcoholic, patriotic, smart, congressman at Washington. Think Burt Reynolds combined with Thomas Jefferson. The film starts off in the late 1980's with Hank's character in a Las Vegas sweet surrounded by naked strippers and playboy models, while trying to a watch 60 minutes on television (How many political films have naked strippers in their films, thank you Aaron Sorkin). The 60 Minutes segment peaks Charlie's interest and he decides to delve more deep into the situation, launching the film. The film is about something that most of us don't know anything about and that's the Russia invasion of Afghanistan, and the US helping Afghanistan to win the war. You might remember hearing of this around the time of 9/11. People were talking about how we supplied the weapons to Afghanistan during this conflict and that's how Al Qaeda got most of its fire arms. This film goes to show, yes America supplied Afghanistan, but it was necessary and valid. In fact we cheer Hanks on to help the Afghanis get the weapons. We found out that the Russian are brutally massacring the Afghan people and leaving the entire country in ruin. Now I'm going to restrain from telling you more because one of the joy's of the film is watching the story unravel and finding out more about this unfamiliar time in the Middle East's history. Charlie's Journey brings him to join forces with eccentric CIA agent Gust L. Avrakotos played by the brilliant Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Now to give you some idea of his character, he looks like a pissed off DMV employee, with a big bushy mustache, wide lens glasses, and long hair. He doesn't play the anger eccentric character with big wild outbursts, like in Tom Cruise movie, but more quietly pissed off and calculating, with slight out burst. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that in movie land he was brothers with Walter from the Big Lebowski. I don't mean to sound cliché but come Oscar time you will be hearing some serious buzz around Hoffman's performance. The film follows their incredible journey into trying to get Afghanistan proper funding and weapons to fight the Russians. This involves talking to Middle East leaders and manipulating them to help out Afghanistan. This includes getting contracts and negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. There is a great line where the president of Palestine has to receive weapons from Israelis and doesn't want anyone to know and says, "I'll do it, but I don't want any Star of David's on the crates." Sorkin's script is exceptional and Mike Nicholas does a great job with the tone. He has to jump from serious drama to, at some points, almost screw ball comedy and at no point does it feel awkward or forced. I think with 8 years of writing West Wing Aaron Sorkin has really nailed political writing. While other screen writers have difficulty with political scripts, balancing characters, with story, and political points of views, Aaron Sorkin has mastered it. He was able to make it hysterically funny and enjoyable to watch. While movies like Good Night, and Good luck, while a great movie, at point seems more like a history lesson then entertainment but Charlie Wilson's War is definitely a film you could find yourself popping into your DVD player a couple of times. He never gets heavy handed with messages or loosing character development to themes or ideas. He allows the story to tell the message without ever having any big speeches or monologues emphasizing his point. Yes this is an Aaron Sorkin film, so you do have his snappy dialogue with quick come backs, but here it's subdued. Instead of every character sounding the same, the dialogue has slowed down and he allows the characters to have individual voices. I only have a few complaints of the film. Julia Roberts's performance, I thought, lacked a bit, Emma Stone and Amy Adam's are under used (Emma Stone is only in the film for five minutes in an unimportant role). While Mike Nichols did an exceptional job with performances and tone, I think what would have really added to the film was a visual flair that Nichols does not have. While having long takes and letting the actors play out the scene works great in movies like Closer and Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?, a film like this needed less of that and more visually interesting camera work. But hey this is an unfinished work so maybe he has some cool graphic he's going to put in, maybe some nifty star fades, who knows. The performances are Top notch. Tom Hanks, while he isn't at Forrest Gump Philadelphia level, he still works great here. Supplying the charm needed to make you love a swinging alcoholic and believing in his ability to manipulate, basically the Middle East. Also some good news, his long hair is put to some good use here. It looks styling and appropriate to his character, unlike his previous film. The great Philip Seymour Hoffman, while he does a great job with an eccentric character, he never steals scenes or over shadow's Hanks. The two have a great rapport. When Oscar time comes around this film will definitely be a contender, especially with Hoffman and Sorkin's script. I would definitely put money on both now, even though Oscar season hasn't even started yet. This film is a well craft political movie that goes to show that even with political ideas and messages a movie can also be a hell of a good time. If you use this can you call me Re-Tek Inc.
