So, I know that I tend to bitch a lot when a movie is really long and threatens to take up my entire day and cheer when I pull one of those films that’s in that “Disney” range, but the fact of the matter is that I don’t hold movies to any ACTUAL criteria when it comes to their length. I whimper and moan about those 4 hour films because really if a movie takes that long to tell the story it means you are purposely not leaving anything to the viewer’s imagination which feels a bit like a cop out. However, a perfect length for any movie is the length that is required to tell its story adequately which is usually pretty easy to accomplish unless you get gang-raped with budget cuts and prima donna talent, however in the case of Charlie Wilson’s War, when you have people like Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, it’s safe to assume those two don’t apply so I can only be left to assume that they just fucking missed.
The problem isn’t that film was too long this time, clocking in at about 100 minutes, it’s that it was too damn short and it just felt like so much was left out and like cheap dickbags, the DVD didn’t come with any deleted scenes (which might have been good as they probably could have been longer than the movie). It raced through a story that had so much opportunity to be gripping and fun with characters that you can talk about for weeks, but with so much fear of time, it never let you just sit back and take it all in. It’s like a beer tour that consists of a single cramped hallway with tiny windows that ends in a parking lot instead of a bar.
Naturally, the (based on a true) story revolves around playboy/bad-life-decision-maker Congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), who, feeling for the Afghan population and their current invasion by the Soviet Communist regime during the end of the Cold War, launches a political fundraising campaign to aid the rebels there that makes Obama look like a panhandler (*shuffles through his 200 “send me $5” e-mails in the last year…* Ok, well maybe that’s not that hard). Regardless, perfectly utilizing connections with religious activist Joanne Herring (Roberts) and off-his-fucking-rocker rogue CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Hoffman), Wilson plays a pivotal role in providing the Afghan rebels with the arms and training required to fight off the Communists and liberate their country from the Reds, all done completely under the radar.
In a movie that wasn’t trying to take itself seriously, these three would have been perceived as a band of misfits whose potential carelessness led to just to the kinds of awkward coincidences that would save the day. However, Charlie Wilson’s War does take itself seriously and for that you get something infinitely better: a trio of sharp, crafty intellectuals with borderline insane-asylum quirks that add a refreshing amount of life and personality to what could have EASILY been a boring political drama. The humor was smart, taking cheap jabs at our current political incompetence or just saying “fuck it” and letting Gust go off on a side-splitting rant that Hoffman can do better than any other man in Hollywood. Everything fit in seamlessly into the storyline and didn’t take away from the fact that yes, this was a very serious issue.
This was based on a true story and I can believe that…most of this happened. The rest of it was for added effect, but done beautifully and what it resulted in was a fun, easy to follow movie that, sadly only really missed it with me because I would have like a little bit more development on everything: story, characters, etc. It just felt a bit half-assed, but that half was pretty stellar so I could only imagine if they gave this another 30-45 minutes to make things more impactful or perhaps more complicated (things just went REALLY smooth almost to the point where this seemed a bit like a satire than a true story…or maybe that was the point.). This film wasn’t boring for a second; I wouldn’t have minded more (though the theme has been “I feel it needed it”).
Because of that, which is a big “because of that,” Charlie Wilson’s War gets a “thank God it didn’t suck” 8 dustbusters out of 10 from me. Really pleased with the movie, not that pleased with the hurried pace.
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ReplyDeleteYes, indeed!! I don't have a "criteria" for length either, but in my opinion there are very few films that truly need longer than 2 hours to effectively tell the story. I appreciated the pacing of this one a little more than you did only because I'm not a particularly political guy, and I think I might have gotten bored if they had fleshed it out with more of the "mechanics" of politics." That said, in the hands of Aaron Sorkin, that probably wouldn't have been an issue (after all, I watched-and enjoyed-all 7 seasons of Sorkin's "The West Wing", can't get much more political than that).
ReplyDeleteI took three things away from "Charlie Wilson's War": First, Hoffman and Hanks are incredible and can apparently become any fucking character they want. Two, Julia Roberts (who has never been one of my faves) really CAN create a character! IMHO, Joanne Herring and Erin Brokovich are her two best-acted characters to date. And three, Aaron Sorkin was (and continues to be) one of the best screenwriters in the industry.
Glad you liked this one...maybe it's a sign of things to come :) Hoping the box treats you this well from here on out, lol.
Hopefully, we'll see. Yeah, I love politics though, though I really, REALLY need to see The West Wing. I just have to sit down and watch them...next year...lol
ReplyDeleteI think you'll really appreciate "The West Wing", it's got all of the signature Sorkin trademarks; intelligent conversations, very fast-paced and witty dialogue, and lots (and lots and lots) of character development. I think the last couple of seasons slowed down and lost just a little of the previous years' quality, but still enjoyable...and with Kristin Chenoweth to boot! :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't know she was in that. Awesome! It's been on the list for a while.
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