Charlie Wilson's War

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  • Opened December 21, 2007 
  • 1 hr 37 min
  • R | strong language, nudity, sexual/content and some drug use

  • Parents: Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+. More on child suitability

  • Charlie Wilson, an alcoholic womanizer and Texas congressman, persuaded the CIA to train and arm resistance fighters in Afghanistan to fend off the Soviet Union. With the help of rogue CIA agent, Gust Avrakotos, the two men supplied money, training and a team of military experts that turned the ill-equipped Afghan freedom-fighters into a force that brought the Red Army to a stalemate. However, the result also empowered the Taliban and terrorists including Osama bin Laden. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Ned Beatty
  • Director: Mike Nichols
  • Genres: Drama

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Critic Reviews

88
ReelViews
| James Berardinelli

With its rapid pace, smart screenplay, and top-notch acting, this is one of the 2007 Oscar season's most appealing and compelling adult motion pictures. Read full review

83
Entertainment Weekly
| Owen Gleiberman

It's all about a likable scoundrel who discovers what it means to act out of conviction. The film's underlying twist, though, is tartly ironic. Read full review

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
| Steven Rea

Like Sorkin's D.C.-set TV series, "West Wing," his script for Charlie Wilson's War is full of rapid-fire badinage, with movers and shakers moving smart and shaking snappy as a squad of aides trot along behind, briefcases and coffee cups in tow. A decade - not to mention a war - never went by so quickly. Read full review

75
New York Daily News
| Jack Mathews

Of all the Middle East-theme movies this season, Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War is the least political and most entertaining. That doesn't mean it's great, just that it's unimportant. Read full review

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Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in "Charlie Wilson's War."