Charlie Wilson's War

Director: Mike Nichols
Writers: Aaron Sorkin (screenplay), George Crile (novel)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Ned Beatty, John Slattery, Shiri Appleby, Rachel Nichols and Emily Blunt

In-a-nutshell:
Despite being labeled a drama, Mike Nichols's film is a hilarious and cutting look into 1980's American diplomacy, and, perhaps surprisingly to some, Charlie serves up a healthier dose of insight into the current climate than much of the overtly political fare otherwise straining to find box-office audiences.

For those wondering where Tom Hanks has been, Hollywood's honorable everyman shows up large as Texan Congressman, Charlie Wilson. Aside from an inconsistent southern twang, Hanks is as charming as Wilson as he's ever been - even when the flick calls for him to objectify his office staff and to bare butt while chatting up strippers in a Jacuzzi. As influential socialite Joanne Herring, Julia Roberts matches wits with the Congressman and wiggles her God-loving figure with political ambition.

The fact that they are "supported" by fellow Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman serves to keep critical minds in tow. From his opening line of "Excuse me - what the f-ck?" Hoffman holds the audience's attention. As Gust Avrokatos - a gum-chewing spook of Greek descent - Hoffman gives a powerhouse performance that expertly undulates from subtle to strong. As Wilson's administrative assistant, Amy Adams's emotional input into the film (as sometime jester and as a juxtaposing force of frankness to Charlie Wilson's frivolities) is palpable and can only aid the actress's status as a rapidly rising star.

Aaron Sorkin's script, based on George Crile's novel, tells the true-to-life story of Congressman Wilson, whose moral standing was less honorable than his position deserved and made him perfect for a life in the '80s playboy politics. That he is portrayed here as a Bond-like womanizer who occasionally bumbles protocol à la Maxwell Smart only makes him more endearing, and Wilson is credited with no small part in bringing the Cold War to a thaw after he delivered the financial force and energetic impetus for the Afghans to expel the Russians from the region.

Sorkin (The American President and TV's "The West Wing") is unarguably adept at the White House's cloak-and-daggers routines, and his tight script sizzles with biting dialogue and enough wit to make an audience giddy. Nichols keeps the movie moving with the awareness of The Graduate, and the swinging office doors in the halls of power pop open and shut with razor-sharp piquancy. That he also allows his actors the time to play off each other is Nichols's trademark, and there are five or more scenes in this film that deliver "Wow!"s in that department - most notably a tête-à-tête between Hanks (in a bathtub) and Roberts in front of a make up mirror, part of which has Roberts delivering a monologue while separating eyelashes with a safety pin, and all the while taking the time to enjoy each other's company while, downstairs, Texan pageant queens are auctioned off by political conservatives in the name of charity.

Although the production design is first-rate, a single bone of contention is that Goldblatt's camera work depicting the Afghan war zone is so crisp and clean that it defies the reality of the sand-swept, ruined nation.

The film provides an entertaining ride reminiscent of previous Christmas release, Steven Spielberg's Catch Me if You Can. Charlie's greatest feat, however, is that although the fun of the '80s abounds, the resulting moral and military hangover we are faced with today is foreshadowed with finesse. So, while the film provides testament to the greatness of the malleable aspects of democracy, it also forewarns us that these are games of considerable consequences.