Charlie Wilson's War
Universal Pictures | Release Date: December 21, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
3
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
More of a hoot than any picture dealing with the bloody, protracted fight between the Soviet Army and the Afghan mujahedeen has any right to be. Read full review
90
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
The two actors (Hanks/Seymour Hoffman) have terrific chemistry and riff off one another like partners in a veteran comedy team. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Corliss
A picture about war and politics that has manages to be both rational and inspirational. It is also the year's funniest smart movie. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
With its rapid pace, smart screenplay, and top-notch acting, this is one of the 2007 Oscar season's most appealing and compelling adult motion pictures. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Hanks has a good time, romping around with the assurance of a holy fool. He and Roberts seem "actorish," putting on accents and mannerisms, but they're entertaining. Hoffman is something more, a scenery-devouring force of nature irresistible as a cyclone and irreverent as a stand-up comedian at a midnight show. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It's all about a likable scoundrel who discovers what it means to act out of conviction. The film's underlying twist, though, is tartly ironic. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
A witty, literate, wryly sophisticated parable of American politics: just the kind of movie that Hollywood, in its search for the global audience, supposedly doesn't make anymore. Read full review
83
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Philip Seymour Hoffman steals the movie. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
You don't often hear critics gripe that a movie isn't long or explicit enough, but Sorkin and Nichols could have gone the extra lap or so to show that Wilson's saga is more than just a story of a good ol' boy accidentally pulling off a remarkable coup; it's a sobering account of the geopolitical hijinks that gave shape to our current world. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Charlie Wilson's War is that rare Hollywood commodity these days: a smart, sophisticated entertainment for grownups. Read full review
80
Village VoiceRobert Wilonsky
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. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
This movie probably gets the Washington process better than any since Otto Preminger's underrated "Advise & Consent" in 1962. It's not about men of virtue doing the impossible, but men of flaws doing the doable, but just barely. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Philip Seymour Hoffman utters one of the year's most refreshing lines in this terrific tale of political wheeling and dealing. Read full review
80
EmpireChris Hewitt (1)
Extremely enjoyable. Although it’s a little tonally unsure, whenever Hanks and Hoffman are on screen, any misgivings are forgiven. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Rude, crude and hilarious, whether he's hitting on Joanne or brokering the sale of Soviet weapons through Israel and Islamic Pakistan, Hoffman is the film's sparking live wire. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
This is definitely the year of Philip Seymour Hoffman.In Charlie Wilson's War, he and Tom Hanks make a particularly sharp and engaging duo, bouncing clever lines off each other as if it were a verbal ping-pong match. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
You might think Tom Hanks is miscast as the lovable sinner. Dennis Quaid, maybe, or Woody Harrelson. But Hanks brings something unique to the role. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
This is first and foremost a farce, not unlike Nichols' "The Birdcage." Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Takes a kernel of truth and roasts it into a popcorn movie. There's terrific fun to be had, and much wry comedy too. What's missing, surprisingly given the subject matter, is any real sense of gravity. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
It's nice to watch a political movie that, for a change, isn't trying to save our souls. It's possible to have a good time with this movie while, at the same time, regretting all that it isn't. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Of all the Middle East-theme movies this season, Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War is the least political and most entertaining. That doesn't mean it's great, just that it's unimportant. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Clever and enjoyable. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Has a crackling, almost farcical pace, even though its subject matter could not be more serious or complex. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Like Sorkin's D.C.-set TV series, "West Wing," his script for Charlie Wilson's War is full of rapid-fire badinage, with movers and shakers moving smart and shaking snappy as a squad of aides trot along behind, briefcases and coffee cups in tow. A decade - not to mention a war - never went by so quickly. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
With 20/20 9/11 hindsight, it's clear that covertly arming the Mujahedeen wasn’t such a good idea after all, but neither Nichols nor Sorkin wants to spoil the fun. Read full review
75
PremiereGlenn Kenny
Julia Roberts has never played a dowager before, but heaven knows she makes a good, and funny, one. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
In this film, directed by Mike Nichols in one of his most satirical moods and scripted by Hollywood's most politically astute writer Aaron Sorkin, a womanizing, alcoholic, easily tempted bachelor gets elected in a Texas district that doesn't care what he does as long as he brings home the bacon. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Of course, hanging over this ironic tale is the deeper historical irony--that many of the "good guy" rebels Charlie is funding (and we're cheering) will become our mortal enemies...It's as if "Titanic" ended with a celebratory shipboard banquet, followed by a postscript: by the way, it sank. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
It packs political machination, helicopter gunships, single-malt whiskey, Las Vegas, Islamabad, naked butts, and eight years of war. The film, adapted from George Crile’s book, doesn’t always work, but it sure offers value for money. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Watching Charlie Wilson’s War is like sitting through a very long episode of "The West Wing." Read full review
70
SlateDana Stevens
A funny, sprightly tribute to the American can-do spirit, with a bleak ending that suggests that our plucky protagonist may have just dug his own (or, in this case, his country's) grave. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Philip Seymour Hoffman carries the movie. As the CIA operative who hates Communists and his myopic superiors in equal measure, he has a wily, don’t-give-a-shit drive that makes you wish he’d been in Baghdad in 2003. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Nichols succeeds in spinning an entertaining yarn, but the cautionary aspects feel fatally undernourished. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
It is well made as far as it goes. I wish it went beyond its own carefully prescribed limits of the commercially acceptable. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Is, in its way, an apolitical comedy about politics. Or at least a naïve one, since those weapons likely eventually made their way into the hands of Al Qaeda. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Perhaps there was some confusion – should we play this as a lark or a lesson in geopolitical unrest? – or maybe there was some studio involvement to defang the politics; whatever the case, the noncommittal Charlie Wilson's War treads a good-natured but yawning in-between. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
As creator and head writer of "The West Wing," Aaron Sorkin had a gift for making policy debate seem sexy, but what worked in the context of that liberal fantasy founders badly amid the realpolitik of this cold war drama. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
It's a fascinating story, but Mr. Nichols and his actors never stop reminding us how fascinating it is. With the exception of Mr. Hoffman, a master of understatement, everyone acts up a storm, yet context is lacking.
20
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Overall, Charlie Wilson's War is glib rather than witty, one of those films that comes off as being more pleased with itself than it has a right to be. It also suffers from being not all of a piece, with mismatched elements struggling to cohere. Read full review
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