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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 2007)
!24 #).%-!3 ,HZ[[O BY JASON BLAIR 6WDUWV )ULGD\ O[[W!IPQV\JPULTHZJVT %/'(5811(5 7+(),1$/&87 1LJKWO\ 6DW 6XQ0DW 5 1,&2/(.,'0$1 -(11,)(5-$621 /(,*+-$&.%/$&. 0$5*27$77+(:('',1* 1LJKWO\6XQ0DW 5 :HKDYHQHZZD\VWRVDYHPRQH\ VHHPRYLHV +)Z]fbllbhg\Zk]3hger*)) +)L>GBHKZ]fbllbhg\Zk]3hger.) MDPHVJDQGROILQLVXVDQVDUDQGRQ NDWHZLQVOHWFKULVWRSKHUZDONHQ 5RPDQFH &LJDUHWWHV 1LJKWO\6DW0DW %,- 28/$7(1,7( )5,'$<6$7 6WDUU LQJ)/,*+72)7+(&21 The scoundrel meets the beauty queen ;76 :;,=0,>65+,9 The vision of rogue Congressman Charlie Wilson E arly in Charlie Wilson’s War, a speaker intones that without Charlie Wilson, history “would be largely and sadly different.” Whether history would be largely different without Wilson — a U.S. congressman from Texas for 25 years — is debatable but probably accurate, but the ref- erence to sadness caught my attention. Wilson, a buoyant rascal, elevated revelry to an art form, so whether history would have been gloomier without him is beyond a If you enjoyed The West Wing, the walking-and-talking political drama about a fictional liberal administration you’ll be right at home with Charlie Wilson’s War shadow of a doubt. What makes the story of Charlie Wilson’s War so irresistible is how a scoundrel and hard-drinking womanizer like Wilson (Tom Hanks) stumbles into the cross- roads of history and, once there, has the good sense to stand his ground. What makes Charlie Wilson’s War one of the year’s best films is how artfully the screenplay plays Wilson’s weaknesses into strengths. If you enjoyed The West Wing, the walk- ing-and-talking political drama about a fic- tional liberal administration, you’ll be right at home with Charlie Wilson’s War. They share the same writer, Aaron Sorkin (who also cre- ated Sports Night), and more importantly, they share Sorkin’s intellectual curiosity and gift for verbal dynamite. Sorkin has always had high ideals, but he’s been easy to dismiss 85' $< 681 '$< -HPDLQH&OHPHQW &+25'6· 1V+WVKMZ\4I\M 6Q\M;-) Legal Eagle CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR: Directed by Mike Nichols. Written by Aaron Sorkin. Cinematography, Stephen Goldblatt. Music, James Newton Howard. Starring Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. Universal Pictures, 2007. R. 97 minutes. 44441 5 as high-minded and tweedy because those ideals are often pouring out of the mouths of refined elites. Not in Charlie Wilson’s War. Sorkin has found the perfect foil not only in Wilson, a coarse philanderer, but in Gus Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Wilson’s brilliant but irritable contact at the CIA for whom the term coarse is a gross un- derstatement. Wilson is a man for whom business tends to interfere with pleasure, if not multiple pleasures; Avrakotos knows no pleasure we can see, save one: blowing the Soviets out of Afghanistan. Completing the trio is Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts), the Houston socialite and for- mer beauty queen who inspires Wilson to look into Afghanistan. (Actually, the trio is a quartet if Wilson’s sweet, moral assistant, Bonnie Bach, is included. Amy Adams is sen- sational in this small but sturdy role.) According to Herring, the place to see Afghanistan is Pakistan, where Wilson en- counters three million Afghan refugees. Those who haven’t died wait to be martyred. Wilson discovers that Afghan rebels are using rifles and mortars against the Russians — essentially, sticks and rocks — while the Russians are sailing overhead in state of the art, rocket-equipped helicopters. What the rebels need are heat-seeking Stinger missiles; Wilson serves on the subcommittee that can make those missiles a reality. Only politics — personal, national and global — stands in Wilson’s way. Charlie Wilson’s War is a lightly drawn, ideas-driven satire of an almost unbelievable episode in American politics. It isn’t deep, nor is it what I would call a closely observed film. The film is talky and a little humid at the outset, but as each person enlisted by Avrakotos seems progressively more clever, so does the film become more enjoyable with each passing sequence. The performances are among the best this year, particularly by Hanks and Hoffman, whose easy but alert rapport should earn them many nominations. The tone of Charlie Wilson’s War is some- times inconsistent, but the message surely is not: Afghanistan was pried from the Soviets’ grip by the aid of a most unlikely hero only to fall under Taliban control when we neglected to win the peace. It remains a victory that was profoundly incomplete. ew Ea g le v s Sh a r k ;=WLYMVYTHUJLMYVT)YL .LYTHU` -\UR`HU TLU RUV^P[&7YVZOV[]PKL K`H ZOHYWH\KPV)VU\Z!( VYHaVY KKP[PVUHS LHYS`[VTPK»Z\UYLSLH SP]L:[L]PL56;;6), ZLK 40::,+ IULVDW VXQ ATONEMENT R 12:45, 3:55, 7:00, 10:00 JUNO PG13 12:10, 2:45, 5:15, 7:55, 10:30 ONE MISSED CALL PG13 12:20, 2:50, 5:20, 7:50, 10:20 ALIEN VS PREDATOR: REQUIEM R 12:40, 3:10, 5:40, 8:10, 10:40 THE WATERHORSE: LEG- END OF THE DEEP PG [10:30] 1:20, 4:10, 7:00, 9:55 THE GREAT DEBATERS PG13 [10:35] 1:40, 4:45, 7:45, 10:45 NATIONAL TREASURE: THE BOOK OF SECRETS PG 12:00, *1:05, 3:15, *4:20, 6:30, *7:35, 9:45, *10:45 *DIGITAL SHOWTIMES PS I LOVE YOU PG13 12:55 (EXCEPT SUN 1/6), 4:05, 7:05, 10:10 [ ] FRI THRU SUN ONLY SWEENEY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET R [10:50] 1:45, 4:40, 7:35, 10:30 CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR R [11:40] 2:20, 5:00, 7:45, 10:25 WALK HARD, THE DEWEY COX STORY R 10:40 PM I AM LEGEND PG13 [11:10] 12:25, 2:00, 3:25, 4:50, 6:15, 7:15, 7:40, 9:05, 10:05, 10:45 ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS PG 11:55, 1:00, 2:15, 3:20, 4:55, 5:50, 7:15, 8:15, 9:45 THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: HANSEL AND GRETEL ENCORE NR ONLY ON SUNDAY JAN 6 AT 12:00 PM THE GOLDEN COMPASS PG13 1:35, 4:35, 7:40, 10:35 ENCHANTED PG 12:35, 3:35 IULVDW VXQ DORM LIFE: THE GAME PLAN PG [12:30] 4:15, 7:15, 10:10 FRED CLAUS PG [12:45] 4:10, 7:40, 10:25 DAN IN REAL LIFE PG13 [12:10] 2:35, 5:00, 7:30, 10:15 WE OWN THE NIGHT R 7:25, 10:05 MR MAGORIUM’S WON- DER EMPORIUM G [12:00] 2:15, 4:35, 7:10, 9:25 HITMAN R [12:05] 2:20, 4:45, 7:20, 9:40 BEE MOVIE PG [11:55, 12:40] 2:10, 2:55, 4:30, 5:15, 6:50, 7:35, 9:15, 10:00 ACROSS THE UNIVERSE PG13 12:35, 3:50, 6:55, 9:55 RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION R [12:25] 2:50, 5:20, 7:45, 10:30 AMERICAN GANGSTER R [12:15] 3:40, 7:00, 10:20 3:10 TO YUMA R [12:50] 4:20, 7:05, 9:50 UNDERDOG PG [12:20] 2:30, 4:40 [ ] FRI THRU SUN ONLY Feeling at home at the University of Oregon Mike Eyster Housing Director, University of Oregon FRIDAY, JAN. 4 TH • 11:50 AM DOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB $3 admission • Free to City Club Members 485-7433 www.cityclubofeugene.org Adv. Tix on Sale HANNAH MONTANA CONCERT 3D (NR) ★ Adv. Tix on Sale 27 DRESSES (PG-13) ★ Sat. & Sun. JUNO (PG-13) (1130 225 450) 715 950 ATONEMENT (R) - ID REQ'D (1230 400) 655 945 ONE MISSED CALL (R) - ID REQ'D (1145 210 425) 720 955 NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS - DP (PG) (1235 405) 710 1010 NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS (PG) 740 1040 CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (R) - ID REQ'D (1135 200 455) 745 1020 THE GREAT DEBATERS (PG-13) (1220 350) 645 940 THE WATER HORSE: LEGEND OF THE DEEP (PG) (1215 355) 640 930 ALIEN VS. PREDATOR 2 (R) - ID REQ'D (1155 220 445) 730 1000 OC & DA: P.S. I LOVE YOU (PG-13) Fri. (1200) 705 Sat. (410) 1025 Sun. (1200) 1025 P.S. I LOVE YOU (PG-13) Fri. (410) 1025 Sat. (1200) 705 Sun. (410) 705 SWEENEY TODD (R) - ID REQ'D (1225 345) 635 945 WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY (R) - ID REQ'D(205) 1015 ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS (PG) (1150 215 435) 700 925 I AM LEGEND (PG-13) (1140 230 500) 735 935 1005 THE GOLDEN COMPASS (PG-13) (1210 415) 650 ENCHANTED (PG) (1135 235 505) NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (R) - ID REQ'D (1125 440) 725 Adv. Tix on Sale 27 DRESSES (PG-13) ★ THE WATER HORSE: LEGEND OF THE DEEP (PG) Sat. & Sun. (1115 145 420) 655 930 ALIEN VS. PREDATOR 2 (R) - ID REQ'D (1235 300 525) 750 1015 CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (R) - ID REQ'D (1215 240 505) 730 955 WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY (R) - ID REQ'D (1240 255 520) 740 1000 NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS (PG) (1245 345) 645 945 ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS (PG) (1210 230 455) 715 935 I AM LEGEND (PG-13) (1145 205 435) 705 940 JUNO (PG-13) (1200 220 440) 720 1010 NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS (PG) (1230 330) 640 940 ALIEN VS. PREDATOR 2 (R) - ID REQ'D (1220 240 500) 730 950 CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (R) - ID REQ'D (1150 210 430) 710 1000 Times For 1/4 - 1/6 ©2008 JANUARY 3, 2008 21
