CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR

It's terrific fun to watch Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman in this movie. Both actors routinely deliver outstanding performances, and they are indeed outstanding once again in CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR. This movie is well done, well acted, and fun to watch. The subject matter...how one congressman led a covert partnership with the CIA in the 1980's to fund and arm Afghan rebels against the Soviets...is heavy material. But director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin choose to take a light/comic approach to the material...and it works. Because of the material, however, you do wish the movie had invested more in it's subject. The movie plays out in just over 90 minutes. I left the theater wishing this 1 1/2 hour comedy/drama had been a 2 1/2 hour comedy/drama that dug deeper. Seeing a little of the undoubtedly darker side of CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR would have been well worth the time. 4 of 5 hs