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The scoundrel meets the beauty queen
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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
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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
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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