Charlie Wilson's War: Good Times and Politics

" Charlie Wilson's War " is based on George Crile's book, Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of The largest Covert Operation in History, 2003 (Wikipedia). The film features Tom Hanks( Charlie Wilson), Julia Roberts( Joanne Herring), Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Gust Avrakoto), and Amy Adams( Bonnie Bach). Mike Nichols (Closer, The Graduate) directed, and Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman produced the film. Five Golden Globes nominations as been credited to the film, including best picture, best actor,and best actress (IMDb). The production budget was 75million, and the film earned 14.7million over the weekend(boxofficemojo.com). Rated R.

Charlie Wilson's war is declared when the congressman read an associated press dispatch about Afghanistan through the congressional wire while standing along side his assistant Bonnie. Reacting seriously to what he read, "Good Time Charlie", (as he was known) being a member of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, ordered to have the funding for Afghanistan doubled from 5million to 10million. After hearing this news, Joanne Herring, Wilson's wealthy, politically connected ,anti-communist, unofficial lover, commends Wilson and convinces him to fly to Islamabad, Pakistan to meet president Zia. During the visit, president Zia and his two advisers explained to Wilson how a 5 or 10 million dollar appropriation was more comedy rather than an earnest attempt at funding. In the closing points of what appeared to be an unfruitful meeting, President Zia asked Wilson to visit the Afghan refugee camp. As agreed, Wilson visited the camp. He witnessed the magnitude of the suffering of children and adults alike, from that point, Charlie Wilson became a congressman on a mission to help the Afghan people defeat the Russians.