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Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Ned Beatty, Denis O’Hare. Directed by Mike Nichols. Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, based on the book by George Crile. Rated R. 97 minutes. Universal Pictures.

Charlie Wilson’s War, the new film from Mike Nichols detailing the adventures of former Democratic Texas senator Charlie Wilson, who in the late 80s secretly funneled millions in arms to aid Afghan rebels in defeating Soviet invaders, ultimately ending the Cold War, is a funny, sexy and glossy war picture that entertains for 97 minutes but leaves little in the way of resonance.

The opening of the film excels in painting Wilson’s hedonistic exploits with as a good amount of ribald fun as seen through a lens of 80s excess. When we first meet the charismatic senator, he’s cavorting in a swinging Vegas hot tub loaded with playmates and coke, an amusing, peek-a-boo sequence staged by Nichols with skin and good cheer. These perks pale when Wilson catches a background newscast by Dan Rather exploring the plight of Afghan rebels under siege from a Soviet invasion. When a trip to the Afghan refugee camps exposes the crisis first hand, he embarks on a mission to increase U.S. funding—at $5 million—to $10 million.

Enter Houston socialite Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts), a born-again, very Christian conservative with bottomless pit pockets determined to support the freedom of all Afghans against what she sees as a supreme world evil—communism. The symmetry between Wilson and Herring (and movie stars Hanks and Roberts) is appealing, an amusing intersection of money, sex and international affairs. The pair hook up with disenfranchised and "coarse" CIA man Gust Avrakotos (ubiquitous Philip Seymour Hoffman) and in a very funny scene, Wilson balances his "Charlie’s Angels"—a bevy of comely office assistants briefing him on a potential scandal—and a meet-and-greet with the jaded Abrakotos. Nichols superbly stages the sequence as a farce of parading characters in an out of adjacent doors, ending on a telling joke.

The three orchestrate a plan to move arms through Pakistan courtesy of Pakistani president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (the great actor Om Puri), the guest of honor at an amusing Herring luncheon fundraiser where the hostess pulls no punches explaining to Wilson about how and why money gets contributed. Millions and millions of dollars keep trickling in through Wilson’s secret campaign until the Afghans are armed and the Soviets find the tables turned in some arresting battle sequences involving heat-seeking missiles that are oddly uncomfortable to watch and even more difficult to cheer for through a modern lens. Charlie Wilson ultimately wins his war all right, but in a poignant late scene addressing politicians unable to discern between Pakistan and Afghanistan, he fails to secure a mere $1 million to rebuild an Afghan school, pondering U.S. follow-through in foreign affairs—and the botched "endgame" that always results.  A short moment and one of the film’s best ideas. 

The performances are capable if not exactly inspired. Hanks is always a degree of Hanks, a quality that works well for a politician pulling purse strings, and his take on Wilson’s good-old-boy demeanor is a lot of fun to watch. Sporting an uncomfortable and unconvincing Texas drawl and a glamorous platinum up-do, Roberts is out of her element as the society matron with too much time, money—and politics—on her hands. She has sass all right, but one can’t help wondering how complex Herring may have been in the hands of a firecracker like Laura Dern.

Hoffman, who has delivered three diametrically opposed star turns in a month—this behind his hapless criminal in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead and his funny-sad brother in The Savages—is a marvel of deadpan timing and pent-up frustration. And Amy Adams is her usual enchanting and warm self as Wilson’s faithful and plainspoken assistant, a liberal who finds difficulty holding her tongue in Herring’s presence. She’s real and endearing in a small role.

Yet there is something minor about the film, which efficiently covers its bases and has an uncanny knack for its time, setting and politics, yet fails to manage much heart. Consequently, Charlie Wilson’s War falls significantly short of Nichols’ best work. But a merely good Nichols film is still something to write home about.

- Lee Shoquist