BORDERS: 'Charlie's War' a good tale, well told

I know Charlie Wilson. Charlie Wilson is not exactly a friend of mine, but I worked for a couple of decades at newspapers that covered a chunk of his tenure in Congress. There's a photo hanging on my wall that I took in 1978 of him and then-Vice President Walter Mondale at the Lufkin airport. Mondale came to town for a campaign fund-raiser. Wilson is in the background, looking handsome and dapper.

I voted for Charlie every time I could and wrote a number of newspaper endorsements backing him until he retired in 1996. In my view, he was one helluva congressman for his district, despite his many personal shortcomings. Charlie, as his campaign slogan said, took care of the home folks. And he always made for great copy.

With apologies for stealing Lloyd Bentsen's line from the 1988 vice presidential debates, Tom Hanks is no Charlie Wilson. He's too short and has an accent better suited for someone from Alabama than Trinity, Texas. Plus, Charlie had a presence that just took over whatever room he was working — and that doesn't come through in the film. Still, Hanks pulls off a fine performance in "Charlie Wilson's War" and captures the essence of a man who single-handedly decided to arm Afghan rebels against their Soviet invaders — and managed to talk Congress into funding a billion-dollar secret war. All the while drinking too much, chasing women and staying just a step ahead of the grand jury.

I don't think I've seen a movie version of a non-fiction book that comes as close on the big screen to sticking to the facts, as presented in the late George Crile's fine book, published in 2003. And the movie is just flat funny, with lines that are pure Charlie. Or if they aren't, they might as well have been.

For example, in one scene Houston socialite Joanne Herring, who had been raising money and awareness for the Afghan rebels, asks Charlie, "Why is Congress saying one thing and doing another?"

Charlie's reply: "Tradition, mostly."

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, a truly gifted actor, nearly steals the show as renegade CIA agent Gust Avrakotos. He's funny, profane (who isn't in this film?) and ought to garner a Best Supporting Actor nomination for the Oscars. Julia Roberts, as Herring, largely sleepwalks through her role, in my estimation.

The film is fast-paced and short, at 97 minutes.

Some quibble it should have been longer and more nuanced. Leave that to the documentaries. This is a good tale, well told.

The film ends with Wilson frustrated because Congress, as usual, lost interest once the Soviets lost and declined to fund rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan, leaving a vacuum filled by the Taliban. We know the rest of that story, sadly, which has been repeated again both in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A quotation from Charlie ends the movie: "These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world. Then we (expletive) up the end game."

Talk about history repeating itself.

Gary Borders is publisher of The Lufkin Daily News.