Charlie Wilson’s War - Movie Report

Over the weekend, my wife and I went to see Charlie Wilson’s War. On the outside, it’s a film about a Congressman from a tiny part of Texas with a penchant for women, booze, and whatever other vices might come his way. But underneath it’s the largely-true story of how the United States pumped money into the Mujahideen to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan, then failed to follow through with a rebuilding effort, thereby indirectly allowing the Taliban to come into power. In addition, it explains exactly how the weapons that are killing American soldiers today in Afghanistan ended up there.

Charlie Wilson’s War tells an essential part of American history, but unfortunately it’s a part that very few will ever truly understand. Most of the audience at the movie theatre was older folks who probably distinctly remember the Soviet threat, and the fall of the Soviet Union. My wife and I were the youngest people there by far.

My guess is that even if younger folks were to see this movie, they wouldn’t understand what the events portrayed in the film led up to, and why it’s so relevant to what is going on today. As good as the film was, and as great a job as they did telling the story, the film unfortunately falls short in linking up those events to their relevance today. I would still highly recommend this movie though. Check it out, and follow it up with some good old fashioned education.