Charlie Wilson's War

Charlie Wilson's War follows a Texas congressman whose appetite for drinking and women has left his career on shaky ground, yet he keeps surviving one scandal after another. Everything changes when a wealthy Houston socialite pushes him to take an interest in the Afghan refugees displaced by the Soviet invasion. Convinced that the American response has been too timid, he joins forces with a disgruntled CIA officer and sets out to secretly arm the mujahideen resistance, an effort that grows into one of the largest covert operations in the agency's history.

Directed by Mike Nichols, this was film number 18 of the 18 films he directed, following Closer in 2004. Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay, and Tom Hanks produced and starred as Charlie Wilson. Julia Roberts plays Joanne Herring and Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Gust Avrakotos, with Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Om Puri also in the cast.

Released in December 2007, the film cost about 75 million dollars and took in roughly 119 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7 out of 10 from over 123,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.5 from a much smaller group of around 1,700. Critics gave it 7 out of 10 across 207 reviews, placing their assessment close to the IMDb audience figure and above the TMDB one.