Charlie Wilson Movie

IMHO, Philip Seymour Hoffman's work in Capote is worth Hanks's and Roberts's careers put together. I haven't seen it, but I'd bet anyone else could've played Hanks's and Roberts's roles, but PSH is the genuine article.

anyone?

hannah montana is hot... is it wrong that im 20 and would do her in a second?

A movie about the guy who helped Bin Laden get his start. Sounds good to me.

joe mcblow wrote:

IMHO, Philip Seymour Hoffman's work in Capote is worth Hanks's and Roberts's careers put together. I haven't seen it, but I'd bet anyone else could've played Hanks's and Roberts's roles, but PSH is the genuine article.

Never seen Forrest Gump? Even if you're not a huge Hanks fan, to say a single performance by PSH pwns Tom Hanks' entire career is just moronic. That's like saying Robin Williams' performance in Good Will Hunting trumps Robert de Niro's entire career. A foolish statement, plain and simple.

From what I've heard, Hoffman pretty much steals the movie. It's a very interesting true story (though I don't know how much embellishing and straying they do) and it's meant to be a blockbuster so I doubt it will be too complicated to follow.

Hanks' career: I always LOVED that dancer, Desiree (Played

by Toni Alissandrissi), in "Bachelor Party". Cutest woman I've ever seen...

saw the movie last night. i liked it. psh did still the show. basically a true story of how a senator from texas helps to fund the afgans against the soviets to help win the cold war, and how afterwards, the u.s. pulls the plug for future stabilaztion in the region.

So the guy single-handedly arms and trains the Muslims (courtesy of your tax dollars, of course), but he expects someone else -- i.e., that nameless, faceless enterprise called the "government" -- to clean up his mess afterward?!

Sorry, but Charlie's just another short-sighted, clueless Texan who's way too high on his own virtue.

No doubt his lifestyle made for a good eye-candy movie, though.

yourdad wrote:

joe mcblow wrote:

IMHO, Philip Seymour Hoffman's work in Capote is worth Hanks's and Roberts's careers put together. I haven't seen it, but I'd bet anyone else could've played Hanks's and Roberts's roles, but PSH is the genuine article.

Never seen Forrest Gump? Even if you're not a huge Hanks fan, to say a single performance by PSH pwns Tom Hanks' entire career is just moronic. That's like saying Robin Williams' performance in Good Will Hunting trumps Robert de Niro's entire career. A foolish statement, plain and simple.

I, my friend, am a provocateur, and I see that I've succeeded. I'm so awesome--I love myself.

The Root wrote:

A movie about the guy who helped Bin Laden get his start. Sounds good to me.

Oh yeah...the script did sidestep that little cow-pattie, didn't it? Similarly it made a lighthearted joke of the fact that Charlie owed his seat to the Israel lobby, and they called the shots in the end. Ha ha, all in good fun, eh? Such innocent times!

In answer to the OP's question...no, this is not a chick flick, and you do need to have some sort of understanding of, or at least interest in, current events.

Go to California Representative Chuck DeVore's webwite to read about the inaccuracy of the movie and the accuracy of the history channel version. DeVore spent time with Charlie Wilson in the middle east when he was with the Pentagon. The movie was boring and putting people in the theatre to sleep!

I actually liked it, but I had two questions regarding continuity.

In one scene, one character refers to his co-worker as a "Tool". I don't remember Tool being used in a derogatory way in 1980.

There is another scene set in 1980 where Charlie Wilson's aids are dancing in a bar to David Bowie's song, "Let's Dance." That song didn't come out until 1983.

The History Channel special on Charlie Wilson is awesome because it features comments from the real life Charlie Wilson as well as numerous CIA people, girlfriends, President Zia of Pakistan, mujahadeen, etc. etc.

It's remarkably good. I'm sure it will be aired many more times. Be sure to watch it.

I enjoyed the movie, but I'm middle-aged and everybody else in the theater was older than me. So, probably not a sizzler for anyone that wasn't even born in the eighties. Still, there was a lot of snappy dialogue, and a few good scenes.

It must be nice to have yourself played by Tom Hanks, and speak lines written for you by Adam Sorkin. I watched the History Channel show, too, and got the impression that the real Charlie Wilson was far cruder, blunter, and less likable than the character Hanks played.

The movie definitely has a political slant. It wants to argue that a Democrat, and not a Republican (i.e., Ronald Reagan), brought about the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. It suggests that a politician's private life has little to do with the good he can do publicly--it seems to have Clinton in mind here.

The movie does acknowledge that Wilson's political campaigns were financed by Jewish investors and that he was a pro-Israeli congressman. But it stops short of suggesting that Wilson was doing Israel's bidding by providing arms to Afghan rebels.

The movie also acknowledges that unintended consequences resulted from our support of the mujhadin. Wilson is not the culprit, according to the movie, but a State Department that wrote off Aghanistan once victory was gained. As a result, we lost influence in the country, and a generation of young Afghanis forgot how much we helped them defeat the Russians.

Chucky wrote:

hannah montana is hot... is it wrong that im 20 and would do her in a second?

No way is that wrong. I'm 54 and I will do her in a second. HOT!!! I've got her as my screen saver.

To be honest, Tom Hanks' ability to play Forrest Gump does not mean he is a good actor. He played a very static and emotionless character the whole time; not very Oscar worthy. Same with Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. I would argue that Hanks' characters in Big, Castaway, Saving Provate Ryan, and Philadelphia (all of which he was nominated for an Oscar, and won for Philadelphia) were much better than Forrest Gump. He shouldn't have won for Forrest Gump, as it was clearly not his best movie. Either way, he has had a very stellar career.

I really enjoyed the movie. I'm sure my opinion is biased; I grew up in the Second Congressional District" of East Texas that Charlie represented. I really liked the CIA guy Gus....very sharp. I hope to catch the History Channel piece.

Merry Christmas