Charlie Wilson’s War

Director Mike Nichols‘ easy-breezy biography film chronicles the remarkable personal crusade of Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), a Texas Congressman and notorious ladies’ man who finds a radical new platform — and a shot at redemption — upon the aftermath of a scandal involving a federal investigation into his alleged cocaine use (conducted by then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani). Encouraged by socialite and occasional lover Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts), Wilson renounces his hard-partying ways (at least a little, anyway) and joins forces with CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to launch Operation Cyclone, a program designed to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen rebellion in their war against the the Soviets in Afghanistan. A fascinating portrait of a flawed yet ultimately brilliant man, though the fact that it’s much more “a movie starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts” than a film with any sort of political agenda keeps things from getting too heavy; Amy Adams, who would go on to work with Hoffman in “The Master,” portrays Wilson’s go-get’-em assistant, with Aaron Sorkin providing the impossibly witty rat-a-tat dialogue. – IFC Staff