With Charlie Wilson's War Tom Hanks is a long, fine way
from the famous bucket of caramel corn, Forrest Gump. No
Gump or Gumby is this.
The movie's energizing strength is intelligence. It is so
entertainingly adult. Of the many smart people in it, the main
brain is Congressman Charlie Wilson.
Up from rural Texas with more than a hint of Lyndon B. Johnson
in speech and connivance, Wilson gives Hanks a juice fest of
political Americana. Wilson, by passion and skullduggery, roped
together covert deals and some congressional black-op budgets to
feed modern arms to the Afghan guerrillas fighting the Soviet
invasion of the 1970s.
A Universal Pictures release
Director: Mike Nichols
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
Cast: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy
Adams, Ned Beatty, Shaun Toub, Om Puri
Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes
Rated R
(Shanghai Daily January 22, 2008)