Charlie Wilson's War received a surprising 83% RottenTomatoes rating, but I would wager the majority of those reviews are in the B-range, which is appropriate. Given the fact this film stars Hollywood biggies such as Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts the show is really stolen by Aaron Sorkin's writing and Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance. This is not to say this is a film you should consider buying. But if you are in the mood for a satirical piece of fictionalized American history give it a shot.

The film is built around congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) and his work with CIA operative Gust Avrakotos (Hoffman) in an effort to assist Afghan rebels against the Soviets. The private war is kick-started by Joanne Herring (Roberts), one of the wealthiest women in Texas and the fun-loving Charlie is at the center of it all with his drinking, womanizing and occasional scandal.

This film is more about the comedy than it is about the story and that's fine with me. Where I think it runs into trouble is that a lot of the attention it received was for the story and its weighty cast. Too bad the story is an afterthought and the cast (outside of Hoffman) is only second rate and I would even say Roberts is downright awful.

Watch this movie with a bottle of scotch and have some fun with it. The special features are decent as they give a bit of real insight into who "Good Time Charlie" Wilson really was, but don't pay it too much attention. Charlie Wilson's War is a rental worthy of a one night stand, outside of that you are going to be off to your next piece of tail.