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The True Story of Charlie Wilson
Rocky Mountain News
Thu Dec. 20, 2007

- - 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

Socialite Joanne Herring wins 'War'

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

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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

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...

Gus Avrakotos graduated with my Father-In-Law (Aliquippa class of 55) and Poppy says the guy was all class. Insisted at every class reunion that he worked as this or that in government — usually as a nobody working in embassy operations. No one knew what he really did, of course. When the word came out, however, no one was surprised.

It’s an amazing small town. Home to Gus, Tony Dorsett, Mike Ditka, Pete Maravich, Henry Mancini, Ty Law, et al.

Ethnic Pennsylvania, eh? Back when immigration truly meant something.

“Still, two hours is a bit much. It seems like we’re watching some of the same footage over and over...”

That and the recap after every commercial. Makes a 44-minute production turn into a 2-hour affair.