Charlie Wilson's War a Winner

Sorkin writes, Nichols directs, Hanks stars, movie shines
By Marie Morris,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 21, 2007 10:45 AM CST
Charlie Wilson's War a Winner
In this photo provided by Universal Pictures, actors Phillip Seymour Hoffman, left, Tom Hanks and Amy Adams attend a special screening of "Charlie Wilson's War" Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Universal Pictures, Dave Allocca)   (Associated Press)

Charlie Wilson's War, the darkly comedic true story of the largest and most successful covert operation in US history, leaves critics mostly charmed. The Mike Nichols project featuring Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julia Roberts "is that rare Hollywood commodity these days," writes Variety's Todd McCarthy, "a smart, sophisticated entertainment for grownups."

Nichols "succeeds in spinning an entertaining yarn," says The Onion A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin, "but the cautionary aspects feel fatally undernourished." Robert Wilonsky of the Village Voice sums up the dilemma, writing, "Dark and funny and mean and sexy, damned near pitch-black-perfect considering that at the end of this boozy comedy you wind up with, oh, Osama bin Laden." (More Mike Nichols stories.)

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