By VictorM:

Over the years I have seen both the Carter and Reagan's administrations take credit for helping the Mujahidin in Afghanistan defeat the Soviet Union invasion of that country. In all these years I never heard of Charlie Wilson and his contributions to that cause.

Based on a true story -- how loosely based I don't know -- this movie tells the story of how it was Charlie Wilson a Congressman from Texas, not Carter or Reagan, who had anything to do with the fall of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. In fact, the movie leads us to believe that neither of the administrations did much, other than talk, about defeating the Soviets.

In the absence of enough intrigue to make this a suspenseful, serious movie, the script by Aaron Sorkin (of West Wing fame) turned the story into political satire that works wonderfully well, considering where we are today in Afghanistan and its offshoot, Iraq.

The movie moves along very smoothly, powered by a script that makes the most of the story, a cast that is top notch and fun to watch, a direction that moves along at a fine pace, some very nice comedic touches, a glimpse at how Congress works (or doesn't, depending on your point of view), and a linkage to events of the last several years that is hard to miss.

Tags: Charlie Wilson's War, movie, movie review