Comments on: Charlie Wilson’s War

By: Carrie V.

Carrie V. — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:08:15 +0000

I was sitting in the theater in tears, unable to speak, with my friend asking if I was okay, as the credits rolled on this. I think they showed exactly where this whole thing was headed without beating us over the head with it.

I too thought it was brilliant.

By: Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Patrick Nielsen Hayden — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:11:41 +0000

I haven’t seen the film, and I’m interested in doing so, but I have to say that the criticisms I’ve seen haven’t simply been that it doesn’t address “the fact that all those arms and guns we went to Afghanistan went to train Osama ben Laden.” Rather, what I’ve seen claimed is that the movie completely ignores the roots of modern jihadism in secret American executive-branch hijinks, specifically inside the Carter and particularly the Reagan administrations.

Here’s an interesting piece: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174877/chalmers_johnson_an_imperialist_comedy

By: Melinda

Melinda — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:41:19 +0000

Thanks for the link, Patrick, I’ll check it out. I hadn’t seen reviews that specifically go after our often times inept meddling in other countries. I think Sorkin, in subtle ways, pointed out the underlying craziness at the CIA. He doesn’t present them as gold plated heroes. The gleeful “let’s kill some Russians” from one of the characters, gets a laugh from the audience but it’s a nervous titter.

You also see how the U.S. shortsightedly just drops Afghanistan after the Russians pull out. Apparently Wilson fought to get some kind of tiny Marshall plan for the country, pointing out that the U.S. had spent half a billion dollars to arm these folks, but was unwilling to put up _one million_ dollars to build schools.

On this topic I can recommend a book called ENDLESS ENEMIES: THE MAKING OF AN UNFRIENDLY WORLD by Jonathan Kwitny. It was published in 1986 so it doesn’t have some of our latest debacles like Iraq, but it is an interesting analysis of what happened in Iran, etc.

By: Laurie D. T. Mann

Laurie D. T. Mann — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:07:49 +0000

I saw that movie a few weeks back and thought it was terrific.

The movies that impressed me the most last year were:

Charlie Wilson’s War
Eastern Promises
Atonement
Michael Clayton

In each case, the scripting was top-notch and very intelligent, as was the acting. I hear both No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood are very good, but both sound way too bloody for me.

By: Peter Hentges

Peter Hentges — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:15:57 +0000

I saw this film on Friday and also thought it was nicely balanced. I absolutely adored Hoffman’s performance. He was nicely placed as the character who gets to say, “The Emperor has no clothes!” It was absolutely heartbreaking to watch Hanks go from the jubilation of the early victories to the sad realization that, as the last quote said, “… we fucked up the endgame.”

By: Melinda

Melinda — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:09:45 +0000

I went and read the article linked by Patrick, and I found it fascinating, and he makes some excellent points and deepened my understanding of that period and what happened.

I also think he wanted to find fault with the movie and so was harsher than necessary. Having worked in Hollywood I can see several factors at work. I think this got pushed as a comedy because of the failure of Rendition and in the Valley of Elah, etc. (I may have misremembered or misspelled the names of some of these films.)

I also know that Hollywood, for all that the Right rails against it, is very traditional in it’s attitudes and values, and not at all brave or cutting edge.

I felt like the script and the movie were a stealth mission against covert actions, the CIA, how Congress uses and misuses money, and how, as a nation, we lose interest.

I’m glad I saw the film. I’m also glad I read the article.

By: Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Patrick Nielsen Hayden — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:59:00 +0000

“Having worked in Hollywood I can see several factors at work. I think this got pushed as a comedy because of the failure of Rendition and in the Valley of Elah, etc.”

I don’t even know anything about these projects, and yet, just from working in an entirely different part of the entertainment industry, I find those assertions plausible.

By: Melinda

Melinda — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 05:17:13 +0000

The other “war” movies were very heavy and depressing, and I think the American public was already depressed enough about this ghastly war. They stayed away, and I’ll bet the marketing division at Universal was frantic to find a way to make this seem fun.