Those of you who follow my reviews (hello? anybody?) will know that I am not a politically minded person. So when heavy duty, or even not so heavy duty, political comments are made, I tend to either not get them or ignore them unless they are in direct service of the plot.
Why do I mention this? Well, Charlie Wilson's War is a film that is steeped in politics, specifically the events that led to the fall of the Soviet Union following their defeat at the hands of Afghan freedom fighters in the 1980s. Decidedly political content.
While, the plot was as easy to follow as an open book, I am afraid I likely missed what was going on between the lines as far as modern allegory goes. I am sure there is more to the film than meets the eye. Fortunately, for those (like myself) who do not always see between the lines, there is plenty here to see that is not hidden behind a veil of secrecy, not to mention entertaining performances from most of the players involved.
Prior to Charlie Wilson's War I had never heard of Representative Charles Wilson from Texas' 2nd District. Why would I? I avoid politics as a matter of course and am not a resident of Texas (I don't even know who my representative is right now). That said, I felt that I learned a bit about my nation's history with this movie.
Now before you go and get any crazy ideas, I am not taking everything presented at face value. When it comes to "based on true events"-type flicks out of Hollywood (or anywhere for that matter) you have to take it with a grain of salt and realize that there was likely a good deal of exaggeration and outright change to make the story more cinematically appealing. I feel relatively safe in saying that the big picture of the film is true and that the changes apply mainly to details in between the big beats.
The past few months have brought with them a few films that draw their inspiration from the current war in the Middle East. By and large they have been ignored as audiences just don't want to see these stories on the big screen, no matter how much action they have (The Kingdom), how "important" they want to be (Rendition), or how much star power they have (Lions for Lambs). Charlie Wilson's War could very well end up in the same camp, but there are a couple of significant differences, despite its obvious star power. The biggest difference is that it steps the war story back in time, focusing on events that could be seen as a direct precursor to what is going on today. The other would be the inclusion of a healthy dose of comedy.
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