Charlie Wilson's War

After a lot of hype and big names, this hasn't really been getting great reviews. For good reason: it's not nearly as rollicking as it promised to be. Tom Hanks is fine and squinty (is he turning into Ian McKellan?) as the title man, a boozing Texas congressman who gets help from annoying Julia Roberts to fund a war for Afghanistan. He then turns to Phil Hoffman as a CIA agent for know-how. Hilarity ensues. Kind of.

I'm disappointed that Mike Nichols, a theater guy who always gets great performances, let Hanks and Roberts waltz through this without any gusto. Phil is good, but that's just Phil. Amy Adams is wasted. The action scenes seem out of place. The idea of mixing comedy and tragedy works when it's dark, not fast and flashy. It feels more like a longer version of the West Wing, and you can see Aaron Sorkin trying a little too hard here to be snazzy. Somehow, every building has long hallways to walk through.... just like the Studio 60 set.... and the Bartlett White House... I'm just saying. A decent attempt, but really short of potential, especially in the end when they try to get serious about how they ignored Afghanistan and created more problems, and then it's just over. You can do better.