Ralph's Movie Reviews: CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR

Monday, December 24, 2007

CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR

Drama
Based on a true story

BACKGROUND
Charles Nesbitt Wilson (born June 1, 1933) a former United States naval officer and member of Congress he first entered politics as a teenager by running for office in home town of Trinity.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Tom Hanks: Charlie Wilson, Democratic Congressman from Texas
Amy Adams: congressional aide Bonnie Bach
Julia Roberts: Charlie’s friend and Houston socialite Joanne Herring
Philip Seymour Hoffman: CIA operative Gust Avrakotos

REVIEW
Although some liberties may have been taken, the movie comes across pretty much as true-to-life. Several fine performances (Hanks and Hoffman in particular) coupled with some really good one-liners makes this an entertaining outing. The rapid pace and sharp dialogue keeps you engrossed and the crisp editing makes sure things move right along.

CLASSIFICATION

for strong language, nudity/sexual content and some drug use.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
While soaking in the tub Charlie has a bottle of Chivas Regal Scotch perched on the edge of the tub with the label clearly in view. When the camera shifts to a close-up of him, the bottle has turned around so the label can no longer be seen. (Perhaps the liquor distributor didn’t pay enough for close-up product placement?)

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my ratings system

I've always thought that telling too much about a movie or warning someone about a "twist" at the end deprives the person the pleasure of seeing it as it unfolds, so I don’t do it. You may not always agree with my rating of course, but at least it is an unbiased opinion unlike some of the full time professional reviewers who are on the studio’s payroll.

A few movies you won’t see any review from me:

Scary movies: I’m the world’s biggest chicken and just hate getting the crap scared out of me. I can handle an unexpected door slam, that kind of thing, but a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat…not for me. Sorry.
Movies geared to the young teen and pre-teen crowd with dialog comprising mostly of crude remarks, awful jokes and lots of rude, socially unacceptable body noises. "The Spy that Shagged Me" comes to mind. (I wonder if the kids know what the British verb to shag someone really means? They probably do; I bet you it’s the parents who haven’t a clue).
Sometimes Hollywood gets on a roll and they produce a series of movies that are all very much alike. For example movies about the CIA were very popular and so we had The Bourne Identity and Bad Company and The Sum of All Fears. They all had the same basic theme and it becomes repetitive. I will see some, but not all of them.

FYI this is my rating system:

0 stars = Terrible: so bad it’s not worth talking about; in fact, I’d pay you not to go
= Lousy: I actually got up and walked out before the end it was just that bad (no kidding)
= Not so good: thought about walking out but hung in just in case it got better (but it didn’t)
= A so-so good movie: I enjoyed it somewhat but wasn’t all that crazy about it
= A really good movie: I recommend seeing it
= An excellent movie you just got to see! I suggest you put it on your "To Do List" it’s that good.

some favourite websites

For those into it, Nitpickers at

has more movie mistakes than you could ever imagine. My contributions can be seen if you check out the Nitpickers Registry and click on the link Nitpickers Listed by Nitpicker Number, select the group 45,401 - 45,500 and drill down to number 45411. Although I have 56 nitpicks to my credit, some have almost 2,000. You wonder sometimes where they find the time to do it.