Charlie Wilson's War
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Charlie Wilson's War | |
|---|---|
| Image:Charliewilsonwarposter.jpg Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mike Nichols |
| Produced by | Tom Hanks |
| Written by | George Crile (novel) Aaron Sorkin (screenplay) |
| Starring | Tom Hanks Julia Roberts Philip Seymour Hoffman Amy Adams Ned Beatty |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Cinematography | Stephen Goldblatt |
| Editing by | John Bloom |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures Playtone |
| Release date(s) | December 21, 2007 |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English Dari Urdu |
| Budget | $75 million |
| Official website | |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
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.[1] 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."
Contents |
[edit] 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.
Herring persuades him 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 detachment's insistence on a low key approach against the Soviet despite his firm pledges for generous funding as a member of two major Congressional defense committees. To solve that problem, 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 Carter and Reagan Doctrines, under which the U.S. assisted the mujahideen and 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.[citation needed]
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 USA. Unfortunately, Wilson finds exceptionally little enthusiasm in the government for even the modest measures he proposes to heed this warning and his efforts are frustrated. 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. The implied warning involves both the rise of the extremist Taliban regime and the September 11th terrorist attacks, though this is never verbalized.
[edit] 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
[edit] 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.
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.[2] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 67 out of 100, based on 36 reviews.[3]
Reagan-era officials have criticized the movie, writes Bill Gertz, claiming it promotes the notion that the CIA-led operation funded Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda and ultimately produced the September 11, 2001 attacks.[4] 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.[5][6]
[edit] Historical context
The 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 embraced by Reagan administration foreign policy and defense officials, who escalated conflict with these Soviet-supported governments, and Jimmy Carter himself later distanced himself from the policy's broader application and was a vocal opponent of U.S. aid to these movements.[7]
Charlie 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."[8] 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."[9][edit] Awards and nominations
Nominations
- 65th Golden Globe Awards[10]
- 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)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ George Crile, Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003, ISBN 0871138549.
- ^ Charlie Wilson's War - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
- ^ Charlie Wilson's War (2007): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
- ^ Charlie's Movie The Washington Times, December 21, 2007
- ^ [1] Sageman, Marc Understanding Terror Networks, chapter 2, University of Pennsylvania Press, May 1, 2004
- ^ Did the U.S. "Create" Osama bin Laden?(2005-01-14). US Department of State. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
- ^ Rollback: Right Wing Power in U.S. Foreign Policy, South End Press, 1989.
- ^ http://www.lufkindailynews.com/hp/content/region/ETtoday/cww/stories/cox_wilson.html
- ^ http://www.counterpunch.org/brzezinski.html
- ^ Hollywood Foreign Press Association 2008 Golden Globe Awards for the Year Ended December 31, 2007. goldenglobes.org (2007-12-13). Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
[edit] External links
- Official Site of Charlie Wilson's War
- Charlie Wilson's War at the Internet Movie Database
- Charlie Wilson's War at Rotten Tomatoes
- Charlie Wilson's War at Metacritic
Films directed by Mike Nichols |
|---|
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) • The Graduate (1967) • Catch-22 (1970) • Carnal Knowledge (1971) • The Day of the Dolphin (1973) • The Fortune (1975) • Gilda Live (1980) • Silkwood (1983) • Heartburn (1986) • Biloxi Blues (1988) • Working Girl (1988) • Postcards from the Edge (1990) • Regarding Henry (1991) • Wolf (1994) • The Birdcage (1996) • Primary Colors (1998) • What Planet Are You From? (2000) • Closer (2004) • Charlie Wilson's War (2007) |
fr:La guerre selon Charlie Wilson it:La guerra di Charlie Wilson nl:Charlie Wilson's War tr:Charlie Wilson's War
