Charlie Wilson’s War

While there’s certainly no denying the effectiveness of the various performances, Philip Seymour Hoffman, for example, has never been better, Charlie Wilson’s War ultimately succumbs to an overly and relentlessly talky vibe that prevents the viewer from connecting to the film’s story or characters. Tom Hanks stars as Charlie Wilson, an easy-going congressman who strives to make a difference after learning of the brutal Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Director Mike Nichols has infused the proceedings with a lighthearted sensibility that often seems at odds with the material’s distinctly dark overtones, though this proves to be far less problematic than the oppressive degree to which screenwriter Aaron Sorkin emphasizes the political aspects of this true-life story. Sorkin’s passion for the subject matter is palpable, to be sure, but the scripter proves unable to elicit even a fraction of that interest among viewers – with this vibe stemming directly from the surprising lack of depth within the various characters (ie these people are essentially just mouthpieces for Sorkin’s increasingly heavy-handed views). The scant exceptions to this (eg Charlie’s story about his childhood dog) are few and far between instances of speechifying that’d surely be more at home on C-SPAN, and it consequently seems clear that the movie will have a more positive impact on those viewers with a previously-existing affinity for the exceedingly dry subject matter.

** out of ****