Charlie Wilson’s War (Paperback)

OK, here’s a spoiler.

According to this movie, the collapse of the Soviet Union is due, almost singlehandedly, to the relentless efforts of one U.S. Congressman named Charlie Wilson.

In short, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was countered with some secret U.S. (and Saudi Arabian) spending on Russian-designed weapons bought from Egypt, then delivered by an Israeli arms dealer to the Pakistan government, who then disbursed these to the freedom fighters of Afghanistan to fight the Soviet invaders. And Rep. Wilson (D-Texas) made it all happen using some interesting channels and spheres of influence.

This is a fantastical interpretation of history that dares to suggest that politicians with a cause are truly able to achieve great things. It was a surprise, therefore, that it was not a preachy Hollywood film about some Democrat cause du jour. In fact, the Democrats and Republicans we meet are all likable in many ways, yet despicable in others. Julia Roberts even played a likable right-wing religious zealot. (A far cry from Marcia Gay Harden in The Mist.)

While these people are truly fun to watch on the big screen, none were people you’d want to hang out with on Friday nights. The exception, perhaps, is Amy Adams who plays a very pretty, smart, fun and thoroughly likable assistant to the hero. Her only apparent personality flaws were her utter devotion to Mr. Wilson, and an unlikely career in politics.

Tom Hanks plays our hero well, as one might expect, balancing the noble and not-so-noble sides of the character in a believable fashion.

The best scenes, however, were when the world’s greatest character actor himself (and the real star of the film), Philip Seymour Hoffman, graced the screen. He plays a cynical career spy who wants to do something useful, despite his superior’s efforts to sideline him. This movie is worth seeing for Hoffman’s scenes alone. Sheer cinematic brilliance.

The movie finishes with a scene where Rep. Wilson attempts to get a mere $1 million to fund building schools in Afghanistan and is turned down by every member of the committee that just funded the war effort to the tune of $500 million. It finishes with a quote from the real guy criticizing the U.S. for leaving Afghanistan without reconstruction help after they fought off the Soviets.

The message, essentially, is “don’t go support a war, then abandon all the people that were displaced by it.” Obviously this ties into the current situations in Afghanistan (and also Iraq), but didn’t strike me as particularly preachy, left-wing, right-wing, Democrat, Republican or otherwise. In fact, and here was an interesting dash of irony, they blamed the work that needed to be done as a result of the downfall of the Soviet Union (that came about ostensibly as a result of Rep. Wilson’s hard work), for declining any help for the people of Afghanistan. Go figure.

Anyway, go see this movie. Five stars!