Charlie Wilson's War

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

2007 1h 42m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 1,730

ComedyDramaHistory

Synopsis

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A Texas congressman sets a series of events in motion when he conspires with a CIA operative to aid Afghan mujahideen rebels fighting the Soviets.

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

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Cast

Tom Hanks
Charlie Wilson
Julia Roberts
Joanne Herring
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Gust Avrakotos
Amy Adams
Bonnie Bach
Emily Blunt
Jane Liddle
Om Puri
President Zia
Shiri Appleby
Jailbait - Charlie's Angels
Rachel Nichols
Suzanne - Charlie's Angels

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mike Nichols
Writers: Aaron Sorkin
Languages: Arabic, English, Russian, Urdu, Hebrew
Countries: Germany, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $75M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 19 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 5 languages: Arabic, English, Russian, Urdu, Hebrew.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Germany, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Mike Nichols, shot by Stephen Goldblatt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by James Newton Howard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John Bloom shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mike Nichols directs. Stephen Goldblatt behind the camera. James Newton Howard scores. John Bloom cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Germany, United States of America. Dialogue in Arabic, English, Russian, Urdu, Hebrew.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $75M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 19 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 5 languages: Arabic, English, Russian, Urdu, Hebrew.
4International production across 2 countries: Germany, United States of America.
5Directed by Mike Nichols, shot by Stephen Goldblatt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by James Newton Howard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor John Bloom shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "A stiff drink. A little mascara. A lot of nerve. Who said they couldn't bring down the Soviet empire.".
10IMDB entry: tt0472062 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 21 themes, including "central intelligence agency (cia)", "helicopter", "washington dc, usa", "congress".
12Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt
Original score: James Newton Howard
Editing: John Bloom
Production design: Victor Kempster
Costume design: Albert Wolsky
Makeup / hair: Douglas Noe
VFX supervisor: Richard Edlund
Sound: Lee Dichter
Stunt coordinator: Rick Avery
Runtime: 102 min · 1h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $75,000,000
Box office: $119,483,446
Return: 159% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

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Mike Nichols

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What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-08-27
★ 7/10
Mike Nichols has assembled quite an A-list cast here, but with the possible exception of Philip Seymour Hoffman it really doesn't deliver as well as I'd hoped. Tom Hanks is the eponymous Texas congressmen who enjoys his time on Capitol Hill, attending it's parties and indulging in whatever is offered - legal or otherwise. He's an uncontentious individual so sits on numerous committees - largely on the understanding that he doesn't do anything! Unfortunately for him, one of his major donors (Julia Roberts) has been appalled by the treatment of the civilian population of Afghanistan at the hands of the Soviets. She wants something done to help them, and he is the man she expects to deliver. He does manage to get the CIA's meagre budget for the area doubled, but when assured that won't make much difference and then egged on by agency expert Gust Avrakotos (Hoffman), he engages in a rather complex mission with Pakistan and Israel - determined foes - to supply the Mujahaddin with weaponry capable of evening up the odds against invaders with complete air supremancy and little interest in where their missiles actually land. Of course, whilst he is now fully galvanised by the task in hand, he doesn't quite appreciate that his is but one part of a complex and lengthy strategy and that even with the budget now running at a billion dollars, there are no easy wins - for anyone. Meantime, he has to do a little firefighting with the media at home who have shown a little interest in his extra-curricular activities - all the more apposite as he is fighting to obtain freedom for a population who are no strangers to opiates. Hanks isn't maybe the best actor for this role - I'd have loved to see Gene Hackman do it, but he works well enough with the pithy Sorkin script and the on-form Hoffman as they scheme their way to an unlikely alliance that illustrates well just how much of a jigsaw puzzle their task was, and was always going to remain. I also thought this rather potently spotlighted the failings of long term American foreign policy and of it's reliance on local allies whose agenda could quite literally change on the turn of a card and whose information was often as incorrect as it was unreliable. It's an enjoyable film that might encourage further investigation into it's pretty harrowing topics whilst reminding us that many of our elected representatives are little better than useless.

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