Charlie Wilson's War

"A stiff drink. A little mascara. A lot of nerve. Who said they couldn't bring down the Soviet empire."

Dec 21 2007 R 1h 42m
Biography, Comedy, Drama

In the 1980s U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, Texas socialite Joanne Herring and CIA agent Gust Avrakotos form an unlikely alliance to boost funding for Afghan freedom fighters in their war against invading Soviets. The trio's successful efforts to finance these covert operations contributes to the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

Plot

In the early 1980s, Charlie Wilson is a womanizing US congressional representative from Texas who seemed to be in the minor leagues, except for the fact that he is a member of two major foreign policy and covert-ops committees. However, prodded by his major conservative supporter, Houston Socialite Joanne Herring, Wilson learns about the plight the people are suffering in the brutal Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. With the help of the maverick CIA agent, Gustav "Gust" Avrakotos, Wilson dedicates his canny political efforts to supply the Afghan mujahideen with the weapons and support to defeat the Soviet Union. However, Charlie Wilson eventually learns that while military victory can be had, there are other consequences and prices to that fight that are ignored to everyone's sorrow.

Written by

Aaron Sorkin, George Crile

Directed by

Mike Nichols

Cast

Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

United States of America

Production Companies

Playtone, Participant, Universal Pictures

Languages

English

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 5 wins & 24 nominations total

Trailers
Charlie Wilson's War movie trailer
Trailer
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