Posted on 12/21/2007 7:32:45 PM PST by flattorney
Produced by Wild Eyes Prods. Executive producers, Carl H. Lindahl, David Keane; producers, Ryan Spyker, Aaron Cowden; director, Keane; writers, Bowden, Terrence Henry. Narrator: Bill Lloyd. Editor, Justin Inda; music, Michael Plowman. Running time: 120 Min.
“Charlie Wilson’s War” (Wide Release Theater Movie)
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Adaptation, Biopic and War
Running Time: 1 hr. 37 min.
Release Date: December 21st, 2007
MPAA Rating: R for strong language, nudity/sexual content and some drug use.
Distributors: Universal Pictures Distribution
Production Co.: Icarus Productions, Participant Productions, Relativity Media, Playtone
Studios: Universal Pictures
Filming Locations: Morocco
Los Angeles, California USA
Produced in: United States
- - Based on the true story of how Charlie Wilson, an alcoholic womanizer and Texas congressman, persuaded the CIA to train and arm resistance fighters in Afghanistan to fend off the Soviet Union. With the help of rogue CIA agent, Gust Avrakotos, the two men supplied money, training and a team of military experts that turned the ill-equipped Afghan freedom-fighters into a force that brought the Red Army to a stalemate and set the stage for conflicts in the Middle East that still rage to this day.
Reviews and additional movie information:
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Book: Charlie Wilson's War:
The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press (April 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0871138549
ISBN-13: 978-0871138545
------
PaperBack – 550 pages
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Pub. Date: April 2004
ISBN-13: 9780802141248
Posted for FlAttorney by TAB
- - When and where: 6 and 10 p.m. Saturday, 6 a.m. and noon Dec. 28, History Channel
If there's a fact- based movie heading to theaters, the folks at the History Channel will find a way to do a documentary based on it. So it is with The True Story of Charlie Wilson, a two-hour documentary premiering at 6 p.m. Saturday, timed to the release of Charlie Wilson's War, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Wilson is the Democratic Texas congressman credited with singlehandedly helping Afghanistan's mujahedeen rebels defeat the Russians during a 10-year war in the 1980s. The documentary offers a comprehensive look at Wilson's career and his involvement in events.
"Singlehandedly" is a stretch, since no man is an island, and certainly no politician bent on spending billions in taxpayer money. Still, he did spur the CIA to undertake the largest covert operation in U.S. history. Wilson's nickname on Capitol Hill was "Good time Charlie," thanks to a penchant for booze and pretty women. Once he threw himself into supporting the rebels, he schmoozed and wheedled colleagues into providing the money to arm the mujahedeen, who were routinely being mowed down by Soviet helicopters.
But the most interesting parts of Wilson's life were stateside, starting with a childhood when his dog was killed by a neighbor who happened to be a politician. Did Wilson get mad? Yep. Then he got even; he ran for the neighbor's local council seat and beat him, with the help of disenfranchised black voters. In the coming years Wilson would face a number of personal battles, not only with booze but with the CIA, which first dismissed him as an interloper. There was a controversial car crash, health problems and FBI investigation into his drug use. But mostly there was Charlie trying to convince people that the fight in Afghanistan was of vital importance to America. Indeed, only 11 months after the Soviets fled the country, the Berlin Wall came down. Wilson, it seems, played a key role in the demise of the Cold War.
The True Story of Charlie Wilson is filled with archival footage of Wilson on Capitol Hill and rebels fighting in Afghanistan. There are also insightful interviews with Russian military officers, and key events are re-created in docudrama fashion, such as the hot-tub party at a Las Vegas hotel where Wilson first became interested in the mujahedeen. Still, two hours is a bit much. It seems like we're watching some of the same footage over and over and, despite comments from a host of Charlie's friends, when we listen to Wilson during his one-on-one interview for the show, he's not that charming. A nice guy, sure, but hardly a legendary bon vivant. That said, the History Channel gives us a chance to encounter the man behind the movie myth. Tom Hanks will no doubt make him slick and appealing on the big screen. On the TV, we discover him to be both more and less than his reputation.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/dec/20/pearson-the-true-story-of-charlie-wilson/
Posted for FlAttorney by TAB
Wednesday, December 12th 2007, 4:00 AM
Former Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson and his ex-fiancee, Joanne Herring, won a second victory at Monday's L.A. premiere of "Charlie Wilson's War."
The ex-lovers - who supplied the mujahedeen with the guns they needed to chase the Russians out of Afghanistan - succeeded in detonating parts of the script that suggested Wilson and Herring had also seeded the events of 9/11.
Herring, played by Julia Roberts in the Mike Nichols film, tells us she "practically choked" when she read Aaron Sorkin's original screenplay. The movie ended with a shot of the Pentagon in flames, implying that Herring and Wilson (played by Tom Hanks) had abetted Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda crew.
"Can you ever predict a war?" she argues. "The shelf life of a Stinger missile is five years. There's no weapon we got them that can be used today."
Herring also didn't cotton to the way Sorkin had Roberts swearing, spouting evangelical screeds and engaging in martini-fueled romps with Hanks.
"I didn't like the cursing, the drinking, the blatant sex," says the 78-year-old thrice-married Houston socialite, philanthropist and former talk show host. "They turned me into a kooky, hypocritical tart."
After sharing the script with Wilson, she says, "We wept and wailed and gnashed our teeth." Then they brought in some legal muscle - Dick DeGuerin (Tom “still The Hammer” DeLay’s attorney against Texas DA Ronnie “Soros Shadow Party & Ultra Liberal Hack” Earle - FlA), the Houston attorney who represented Robert Durst, the deranged New York real estate heir who, as Herring notes, "killed his neighbor and chopped him in pieces. Dick got him off."
DeGuerin got the attention of Universal and the producers, who flew Wilson and Herring to meet the stars in Morocco, which was doubling as Afghanistan.
"Tom Hanks said to me, 'I've been in love with you for six months, give me a kiss!' I was delighted to. And Julia Roberts was so lovely.
"They still wouldn't let me on the set," she adds. "I said, 'What do you think I'm going to do - roll on the floor and foam at the mouth?'"
Assured that the script would be changed, Herring flew to the L.A. premiere with Houston pals, who included former Secretary of State James Baker. To everyone's great relief, she and Wilson liked what they saw on the screen.
Herring admitted that, just like in the movie, she wore slinky dresses to meet men in power.
"That's the only way anyone would listen to me," she laughs. "I'm a Christian, but even Christ liked to have a good time."
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2007/12/12/2007-12-12_socialite_joanne_herring_wins_war.html
# # #
12.17.07 FlAttorney says: I saw the theater release movie at a Houston private screening last week with my brother and several members of his law firm. It doesn’t hold a candle to the book. Based on the above threat of litigation I understand about 40 minutes was cut out of the original version. I was given 6 pages of details as to what was cut out of the movie but haven’t had time to review it. However, I have to side with our River Oaks “always been a pistol” Joanne on this matter. I understand there was a bunch of hatchet job ultra liberal total distortions of the facts in the original version along with the crapola 9/11 WTC tied ending showing the plane hitting the Pentagon. Charlie (Wilson) said the movie made him look a lot better than he really was - and it made Joanne look much worse than she really was. Bottom line, it’s just a movie. Don’t read anything into it. [snip-TAB]
Posted for FlAttorney by TAB
As the paparazzi lined up along the red carpet to snap photos of celebrities for the Dec. 10 premiere of the film “Charlie Wilson’s War” — the true account of a Texas congressman’s efforts to help fund a Cold War defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan — they had the chance to shoot the movie’s stars, including Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Dick DeGuerin. Wait a minute. DeGuerin? As it turns out, the Houston criminal-defense lawyer played a behind-the-scenes role in the making of the movie, which opens Dec. 21. The film recently was nominated for five Golden Globes, including Best Picture (Comedy/Musical), Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay.
DeGuerin was the guest of Joanne King Herring, a Houston socialite who Roberts portrays, at the premiere of the movie at the Universal Studio AMC Theater in Hollywood. “Joanne King was and is my client and friend,” says DeGuerin, a partner in DeGuerin Dickson & Hennessy. “She’s the one who really got Charlie Wilson to do what he did.”
King was an honorary consul to Pakistan in the 1980s. She convinced Wilson, then a member of the House Appropriations Committee, to help funnel money to the Afghan mujahedeen, the resistance fighters who eventually drove the Soviets out of their country. Pakistan played a role in the conflict in the 1980s, because the country served as a refuge for thousands of Afghans who fled their homeland during the Soviet occupation. Pakistan urged the United States to become involved in the war. Wilson’s story made for a popular 2003 book “Charlie Wilson’s War” and the new movie of the same name.
But when Herring was leaked a copy of the movie script, she was not happy, DeGuerin says. “They had written a script that had her cussing like a sailor and doing things that she never did. She got me to threaten the producers with a lawsuit if they didn’t change it. And they did,” DeGuerin says. DeGuerin ended up sitting next to Herring at the premiere and met Hanks, who plays Wilson — proof that everyone was “very happy” after the resolution of the script conflict, he says. -- John Council
# # #
Email rec’d, don’t know original source. FYI, Dick is a Texas “yellow dog” Democrat and Tom DeLay’s attorney in the Ronnie Earle – Soros Shadow Party Texas hit job – fla
Posted for FlAttorney by TAB
This needs a Jack Murtha ping
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1489385/posts
My Enemy’s Enemy by George Crile
My Enemy’s Enemy: The Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History — the Arming of the Mujahideen by the CIA
In the early summer of 1980, Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson walked off the floor of the House of Representatives into the Speaker’s Lobby, a rich, wood- paneled room that stretches along the full length of the House floor. A Teletype at one end spewed out stories from AP, UPI and Reuters. Wilson was a news junkie, and he reached down and began reading a story datelined from Kabul.
(much, much more at thread)
It was only the beginning of the extraordinary maneuvers Wilson had to make to push this bill through a highly reluctant Congress. By then even his most reliable ally, John Murtha, the chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, wanted to end the CIA program. Murtha was appalled at reports of the mujahideen's drug trafficking, but in the end he stood with Charlie, and his support guaranteed the bill's passage in the House. It was passed in the Senate that fall. The secret appropriation was hidden in the $298 billion Defense bill for fiscal year 1992. When it was presented for a vote, no one but the interested few noticed the $200 million earmarked for the Afghans.
It is my opinion that Abscam the stepping stone to Able Danger.
I haven’t read the book, but I get a very strong feeling that the film is part of the ongoing lefty revisionism of all of our history, which states that basically every good thing happened in spite of conservatives and Republicans, not because of them. Regardless of the facts. “New” facts will be supplied to replace the old.
For example, we’ll know that the global warming movement has officially been completely exposed as a fraud when we see it starting to get blamed on Republicans.
Nope, the film isn’t like that at all. It’s quite even handed, and damn good.
The link at post 6 has a sizable excerpt for your review.
The last thing I want to see after a week on FR is a political movie. I’m going for pure escapism, National Treasure.
I have heard from a couple of people that the film is like you (and ReconDad) say: short on liberal revisionism and as close to “true story” as Hollywood is capable of.
From the previews I figured it would be a hatchet job on the Reagan administration and beatification of all things Dem. Now looking forward to seeing it, and the History channel show too.
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/29855.html
by Randall DeSoto
Charlie Wilson’s War, Pro Iraq?
December 20, 2007 02:00 PM EST
“Further building the case that this movie can be seen as sympathetic to current Republican-led actions in these two countries is that Congressman Jack Murtha’s ethics problems that he experienced in the early 80’s come up twice during the film.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Murtha comes bearing $1.3M gift
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/leadertimes/s_543517.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First beams erected at tech park site
“The governor and Congressman Murtha have been telling us we needed to have something vertical by the end of the year,” Kurtz joked as workers with Century Steel Erectors moved long steel beams into place with a crane.
“Well, we made it.”
http://www.tribune-democrat.com/homepage/local_story_355000328.html?keyword=leadpicturestory
I saw the previews and thought it looked kind of fun. Hard drinking womanizer get serious is a story that’s hard to screw up.
Texan. It figures.
My Enemy’s Enemy by George Crile: The Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History — the Arming of the Mujahideen by the CIA
Merci for the link!
Everyone at both brothers law firms [Miami and Houston] received Crile's Charlie Wilson's War book as a Christmas present. The joke was that there were bonus checks buried inside the book and some people pitched the book in the trash not knowing this :-) All the reviews I have read on the book state it is very good but long. - TAB
Charlie Wilson's War:
The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History
by George Crile (Author)
Aaron Sorkin wrote it, so it’s lefty drivel. May it bomb at the box office.
I went to the movies with my wife the other day and saw previews for "Charlie Wilson's War." It looked fun and I'm eager to see it. Looked like a good time.
BTW, we saw the latest Coen brother's film, "No Country for Old Men."
Still, trying to figure out what that was all about.
Helluva good movie. I think...
“BTW, we saw the latest Coen brother’s film, “No Country for Old Men.”
Still, trying to figure out what that was all about.”
Ditto, “Oh Brother,Where Art Thou?”, supposedly based on Homer’s Odyssey...one of the worst movies we ever saw...
Coen Brothers should remake ‘Houdini’ and just disappear.
Sorry I’m late, but freema handled the pingy thingy.
Agreed. I took my wife to see it today. Really, really liked it. Great acting by Hanks and Hoffman. Julia Roberts role could have been played by a dozen other women though.
But if they hadn’t cut out some wackjob part about our work in Afghanistan causing 9/11, it would have ruined the movie for me entirely.
Otherwise, it’s just great to see hollywood write a great script and perform a movie which is pro-American for once. And there was a pretty big turnout at the theatre we went to at 1pm in the afternoon.
—”I’m going for pure escapism, National Treasure.”—
It looks like a good one.
Posted for FlAttorney by TAB
They did leave in the part of our abandonment of Afghanistan contributing to 9-11, but that’s the truth. And it’s a good thing to remember now with lots of people wanting us to flee Iraq.
I’ll be interested when the DVD comes out to see if they release the much protested but apparently never seen version.
“Oh Brother,Where Art Thou?”, ????
Why that’s one of the finest pictures ever set to celuloid.
(in a quirky, sorta southern way)
I love Oh Brother Where Art Thou. Of course I’m a Coen brothers kind of guy, they have a deeply twisted sense of humor that I love.
Huh. And I can watch that film again, again and again! Truly on my top ten all time list.
I love every scene, every line of dialogue and every song.
The only George Clooney movie I like or can watch.
No accounting for or explaining taste, I guess!
We're in a tight spot!
I just saw the film a few hours ago and was amazed at it’s evenhandedness. If Joanne Herring is right about the fight she put up to change the original script’s hit-job features then she must be every inch the pistol as portrayed in the movie. Indeed, her actions may well turn out to have saved the film from being dismissed by audiences as just more politicized hackwork. It is thoroughly character-driven and Tom, Julia and Philip strike sparks off each other.
There is an amazing lack of partisan cheap shots throughout, remarkable in this season of Hollywood’s all-out blame America-thon. Yes, Charlie’s role in saving Pigeye’s flabby butt from Abscam in exchange for his appropriations assistance is made clear.
The movie does indeed end on an ominous note with Charlie being frustrated by the way we write off Afghanistan the moment Russians leave. This is entirely appropriate.
I give it four stars and will be reading the book as soon as possible and that’s the highest praise I can give for any movie.
One of my favorites too.
Let us not overlook some great music in it too.
I have read the book “No Country for Old Men” so I might understand it when I see it.
“O, Brother” is a comic masterpiece.
I lived in “Good Times” Charlie’s Congressional district while he was in Congress. Like they say, a busted clock is right twice a day, for on every other issue Charlie was a disaster. His major, perhaps sole contribution was to be a water carrier in Congress for East Texas timber baron, Arthur Temple (Temple-Inland).
Charlie’s reputation as a boozer and womanizer was well-known throughout the region, thus I was always amused and chagrined that the fine Christian folk of East Texas elected and re-elected that putz time after time. Of course, the area was yellow dog Democrat country (and had more than its share of voter irregularities), but still...
“....’Oh Brother, Where Art Though’......one of the worst movies we ever saw”.
It’s a Southern thang! You wouldn’t understand.
The movie was successful and it’s Award Winning Soundtrack was one of the most selling CD’s of the year.
This is the exact same feeling I got when I first saw the trailer for the upcoming film.
An attempt to minimize the efforts and achievements of the Reagan Administration and give credit to the Democrats for ending the Cold War.
I'm from waaaaayyy (though born in Ohio) up North and I got it.
It is one of my top 5 favorite films. The characters are unforgettable and the music is...well....what can you say other than sublime? The soundtrack is one of my most-listened-to CDs.
March 12, 2007: How Joanne Herring won Charlie Wilson's War
# Very good article in the UK Telegraph
Joanne Herring in Afghanistan with the Mujahideen
# A few months after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, she smuggled herself into that mountainous land to film the atrocities that the Russian forces were inflicting as they strafed villages from helicopter gunships.
April 13, 2007: The Belle, the Politician and the CIA
- Joanne Herring played a pivotal role in ending the Cold War
# Long article on her life and accomplishments in her hometown Houston Chronicle newspaper. Very interesting women. I have been reading for hours.
TAB
Joanne was and is still an extremely attractive woman. She’s also very rich, very smart and a strong Conservative.
How did Charlie ever let her get away?
One of your best research projects, both threads.
I will cross post them to the World of Terrorism thread.
SOOOOOO, we have Charlie Wilson and a ROGUE CIA to blame for arming Osama Bin Laden???
From Calpernia’s link:
Gust Avrakotos, from Aliquippa, PA, just northeast of Pittsburgh.
bump
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2005/12/26/gust_avrakotos_67_led_cias_arming_of_afghan_mujahideen_against_soviets/
Gust Avrakotos, 67; led CIA’s arming of Afghan mujahideen against Soviets
Created a very, very large blackmarket of our weapons. Some of which were still being chased down. Many of these monies were also funneled to fund Sheik Rahman, mastermind of the WTC ‘93.
Merry Christmas, Calpernia-
Additionally, I would add that regarding your opinion that Abscam is the stepping stone to Able Danger:
When one looks at the parallel to the timeline of the publication of George Criles’ (U.S. Marine Corps Reservist) book, Tom Hanks procurement of the movie rights, and production of the movie,
and
looks at the timeline of murtha’s behavior concerning his remarks about the war and the blood thirsty Marines
one just wants to kick some ass.
http://www.taylormarsh.com/archives_view.php?id=24234
Ass kick bump
Having read the book and seen the film you would be wrong.
Yeah, you’re right this couldn’t have happened to people from any other State, but Texas.
Recon Dad
Google Joanna Herring and see what see looks like. I did it right after seeing the film and looked at the pictures of her in the book. She is really looks a lot like her. Last night History channel had her on and even after all the years that have past you can see why the picked Roberts.
Perfect review. You are going to read the book twice, I did. The build up and machinations that take place to make this all possible make it a great read.
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