charlie wilson war and base on a true story and tell the tale of a texas congressman and a cia agent work to secure funding for covert support of the mujaheddin in 1980s afghanistan follow the ussr invasion of the country . this conflict play a major role in the final year of the cold war between the u and the ussr . in term of film making and charlie wilson war be a definite winner . it well write and well act and and well shot . while most of the attention have go to tom hank for yet another fine performance and i be even more impressed with philip seymour hoffman turn a cia operative gust avrakotos . scene of soviet attack on under arm village and of the refugee camp effectively tug at the heart . the film also give a good behind the scene look at the wheeling and deal that congressman wilson must go through to secure the desired funding . there be and however and two complaint i have about the film . the first be that there be a subplot involve an scandal investigation that be not well developed and a such only serve a a minor distraction to the story line . the second complaint be that the film lack some of the context of the war . the film make the mujaheddin look like innocent victim and and while they do suffer large civilian casualty and the mujaheddin be in fact rebel try to topple the government of afghanistan . this government and ignore entirely in the film and not surprisingly fight to suppress the rebellion and later call on the soviet union for support in their effort . the film also ignore that the u be aid the mujaheddin prior to the soviet deployment in afghanistan . the film do hint at the unintended consequence of our covert action consequence we be still feel today but it seem a if screenwriter aaron sorkin and director mike nichols be willing to sacrifice some historical context to provide a cohesive narrative . ( not have read the book and i do not know if george crile make the same compromise . ) those complaint notwithstanding and i do enjoy watch charlie wilson war and do recommend it . i would have prefer a film that more accurately depict the complexity of the situation and a stephen gaghan do in syriana and but the audience connect well with cohesive narrative of charlie wilson war than with the ambiguity present in syriana .