it doesn not happen very often and but occasionally one man can make a difference a big difference . george crile 2003 best seller and charlie wilson war and be a fascinating and eye open account of the most unlikely difference maker imaginable . a relatively obscure congressman from the second district of texas and good time charlie be know more for his libertine lifestyle than his libertarian legislation . likable and licentious ( even for a politician ) and charlie wilson serve his constituency well since the good folk of lufkin only really want two thing and their gun and to be leave alone . it easy street replete with his bevy of beltway beauty know and appropriately enough and a charlie angel . when ask why his entire office staff be compose of attractive and young aide his response be a classic and you can teach em to type and but you can not teach em to grow tit . no argument there . but even the most rakish rapscallion have a conscience lurk somewhere underneath and and for charlie wilson the unimaginable atrocity be commit in afghanistan move him to muster his entire political savvy toward fund the utter and humiliate defeat of the russian military and and possibly and to even help hasten the end of the cold war a a result . fat chance and huh . under the skillful direction of mike nichols and a smart and snappy screenplay by adam sorkin and charlie wilson war be a sparkling and sophisticated satire that chronicle the behind the scene machination of three colorful character comprise charlie team . the on screen team and be compose of three marvelous actor with four ( 4 ) academy award and nine ( 9 ) nomination between them . charlie be beautifully portray by tom hank in a solid and slightly understated fashion that be among his best work in year . he aid and abet and abedded by joanne herring and a wealthy houston socialite play by the still slinky julia robert . hey and why else have the bikini scene than to let the world know this . by all account ms. robert look good and hold her own and but the screenplay never give u even a hint why kabul and country be so important to her character . maybe the two afghan hound usually by her side know but we a an audience never do . a for the third member of the team and philip seymour hoffman steal every scene he appear in a gust aurakotos and a smart and street wise ( i. e. non ivy league graduate ) cia malcontent who know the score both in the agency boardroom and in wilson bedroom . for the mujahideen to succeed and the most important assistance the u. s. can provide be the ability to shoot down the dreaded mi 21 helicopter gunships which rule the sky . this take money and lot of money and and eventually charlie team covertly coerce those in congress to fund the effort to the tune of $ 1 billion dollar for advanced weaponry to arm the afghan rebel . this include top of the line and state of the art anti aircraft and anti tank rocket as well a other highly sophisticated kill device . nasty and nasty stuff . that this kind of multi billion dollar illicit activity can and do take place behind congressional door be truly alarm . every american should see this movie or read this book because it reveal a truly frightening aspect of the business a usual political scene rarely see outside the wall of our very own government . oh momma and i wish it weren not so . even though the initial outcome for team charlie be an unqualified success and the unimaginable and unanticipated final result be that these sophisticated weapon be now use against our troop by the taliban and others . since the funding be entirely covert and the young generation in this part of the world have no idea the fall of soviet oppression and the end to russian barbarity be the direct result of american intervention . yes and once the russkies leave and so do our aid zip for school and zip for infrastructure and zip on maintain meaningful relationship with the afghan people . a a result and the overall consequence be an unmitigated disaster it like the forerunner to mission accomplished . a nichol film so pointedly point out and the ball you have set in motion can keep bounce even after you have lose interest in it . mike krzyzewski know this and eva longoria parker know this and little lateesha in lafayette know this and but the typical american politician doesn not . so we go from good guy to bad guy because we couldn not let the world know we be the good guy . talk about a catch 22 ( another mike nichols film ) . perhaps charlie wilson say it best and we f and % ked up the end game . again .