Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2641 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-05-05
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Overlooked in the end at the Academy Awards, and not ratcheting up the box office you'd perhaps expect of a Tom Hanks movie, Charlie Wilson's War is nonetheless a challenging, entertaining and underappreciated film, that deserves to find a bigger audience on DVD.

Starring Hanks in the title role, the strength of Charlie Wilson's War is in some talented people doing what they do best. Hanks eases into his part, as the Texas congressman who uses his extensive contacts book and unorthodox nature (which is putting it mildly) to initiate and wage a secret war. Alongside him is Julia Roberts on fine form in a small part, and the excellent Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who is at the heart of the film's best, and funniest, moments.

Gluing Charlie Wilson's War together is an assured turn behind the camera from veteran director Mike Nichols. Nichols, still best known for The Graduate, is confident enough to let the comedy in a deathly serious story play out, while not shirking the drama either. It's a tender balancing act, that only flusters a little near the end.

It's not a perfect film, and the tone may be a little uneasy for some. But Charlie Wilson's War is, nonetheless, a very strong piece of American cinema, that has questions to ask, and manages to entertain at the same time. Well worth discovering. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
The first time the audience sees Texas congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) in the early 1980s, he seems far from a model politician. Surrounded by strippers, a Playboy Playmate, and cocaine, the naked congressman lies in a hot tub at a party. Despite the distractions, the TV news catches Charlie's attention as Dan Rather reports from a war-torn Afghanistan. As Soviets invade the country, the Afghans lack the money and technology to defend themselves. Enter Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts), a wealthy Texan who champions the cause of Afghanistan and, by extension in the Cold War, America. Together with CIA Agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Charlie begins a secret war where he must unite Israel, Pakistan, Egypt, and America to defeat the Soviets.
Just as director Mike Nichols brought a sense of fun to what should have been dour proceedings in films such as The Graduate and Closer, this comedy about the largest covert war to date never feels like a history lesson. Writer Aaron Sorkin's dialogue is sharp and it's delivered with impressive verve from the film's trio of Oscar winners. Hoffman is famous for transforming into various characters, and he's remarkable, but it's Hanks's turn that's the most surprising. Outwardly, Charlie could resemble many of Hanks's previous roles, but the actor adds layers to the character and changes without the aid of makeup or prosthetics.

Customer Reviews

The Cold War, now available in Primary colours...
So what do you know - it's possible to make a cheerful movie about the war...
Actually, the reason this movie feels so light and cheerful is that it is really about Charlie Wilson the man rather than the war. The movie tells the (based on true) story of the Texas Congressman who played a pivotal role in getting substantial funding to the Mujahedin in Afghanistan, eventually leading to the forced withdrawal of the Russians, thereby paving the way for the downfall of the Soviet Empire - as told by this movie at least. The interesting part is that Charlie Wilson was a womanizing party animal who was the last person many would have thought would tackle this issue.
The cast fit the bill perfectly - Tom Hanks surprises as the drinking Congressman, sharing a hot tub with strippers doing coke.. but retains the naivete that seems to have allowed him to say `why not' when faced with the question of increasing funds to Afghan freedom fighters. The woman asking the questions is a rich, headstrong Texan woman played by Julia Roberts, and the man in the CIA actually getting the job done and providing the technical explanations, is played by Philip Seymour Hoffman.
It's shot well, in bright colours and plenty of lighting so we never have a dark moment, and acting is perfectly fine throughout. There is even just a touch of acknowledgement at the end that things were not so straightforward, and a warning that with the Russians gone, and without funding rebuilding infrastructure and schools, the `crazies' would inevitably take the leading role. As of course they did.
On the downside, this is really a very superficial look at the issues, and a rather one-sided look at events in history. On the plus side, it's a fun and entertaining introduction to the man and the history, that at 1hr 38 min never outlasts its welcome.

Uncinematic story competently but blandly filmed
The film is not very good. It is simply not a very cinematic story, and it has not been dramatically filmed. It's just a bunch of people talking about funding a secret war, but with the intricacies of the politics and deceptions simplified to the point of rendering everything bland and dull.

An example: Hanks tells the President of Pakistan that he has probably broken the Logan Act in his dealings. The President asks what this is, Hanks does not explain. So most of the audience are left in the dark. As I have read the book I know that the Logan Act states that it is treason for anyone apart from the President of America to conduct foreign policy (ie. only the President can start a war, which is pretty much what Charlie Wilson has done by joining a war America is not fighting). If this was explained in the movie then it would have been dramatic and interesting, but instead it's brushed under the carpet rendering the scene dull. And don't get me started on how stinger missiles suddenly turn up in Afghanistan all of a sudden (in the book it takes about 300 pages of pleading and arguing before the government allowed them to be deployed).

The only good thing about the film are two scenes involving Philip Seymour Hoffman. The first scene where he has an argument with his boss and the scene where he meets Hanks for the first time. The rest of the film is a boring dud. I even fast-forwarded a few sequences as I knew what was happening and couldn't be bothered sitting through these predictable scenes.

I have read the book (5 stars) and I can say that it is much better than the film. I would, without any hesitation, recommend reading that instead of watching this.

NOTE: There is a patronising Aids documentary on the front of the disc that you cannot skip. I have found that it can be bypassed by selecting Dansk (Danish?) on the language select screen to go straight to the main menu, you'll just have to switch off the subtitles when the film starts.

Great film - bad DVD
OK let's get it straight I really enjoyed the film. The start of the film was a bit slow and confused (I really wasn't that interested to explore Charlie's predilections for nudes in spar tubs) but once the reason for the story is made known it is gripping and moves at a pace that keeps you interested and ultimately moved until the end. The great thing was showing what a few individuals can achieve in the face of international lethargy and disinterest.

It was good to meet the real Charlie in the extras but why did that have to effectively have a 'Making Of ...' and then a shorter 'Meet Charlie Wilson' that has identical footage of Charlie and nothing new?

So a good film so why only 2 stars. As other people have pointed out I absolutely hate this DVD - you have to sit through nearly 4 minutes of a UNICEF campaign for Aids in Africa. There is no option to skip or fast forward through it. Then you get nearly a minute of loud noise about video piracy (which I object to as I just bought the damn thing - why treat ME as a pirate when pirates can easily strip the crap) and then to add insult to injury there is a further copyright notice. OK we finally get to the film but for heaven's sake don't press the menu button on your handset during the film or you have to endure the whole lot again - it doesn't even go straight to the menu.

What is the net effect of all this - people will copy the DVD just to remove the crap so they can watch the film in peace. This totally negates the charity appeal stuff and the copyright notices and turns users in to copyright infringers because of the publishers own stupidity!

Don't get me wrong I thing publicising the work of UNICEF in Africa is laudable and I wouldn't mind it being on the disc (even though the disc has nothing to do with UNICEF or Africa or Aids) provided it is in the extras section and is optional.