Will audiences enlist in "Charlie
Wilson's War" next weekend? The film's screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin, is
cautiously optimistic.
At the Q&A session following Wednesday's Variety screening at
Arclight Cinemas, the politically astute writer behind "A Few Good
Men" and TV's "The West Wing" pointed out a few facts that might
set his new political drama apart from the other movies about
"My guess is that people, particularly when it's this subject, don't
want to see a movie about what they read in the newspaper this morning,"
said Sorkin. "But the fact that it all happened 20 years ago, that it's a
story we've never heard before, that it's outrageous and funny, we're hoping
they're all working on our side."
Speaking of funny, Sorkin was aiming at balancing humor with the serious
subject matter -- the story, of course, being about Charlie Wilson, the
hard-drinking, womanizing Democratic congressman from
"A Christmas movie about arming the Afghan Mujahadeen in their fight
against the Soviets? You'd better laugh a little bit or I'm going to stand
there giving everybody their 11 bucks back," Sorkin joked. "It helps
a lot when Mike Nichols is directing, Tom Hanks is starring, (and) Philip
Seymour Hoffman absolutely knows where the jokes are. If there was a movie I
wanted it to feel like it was 'Mash.'"
Sorkin made it very clear at the Q&A that the makers of "Charlie
Wilson's War" wanted the film to be political but not preachy.
"The politics we are dealing with, the subjects we are dealing with are
so radioactive right now," said Sorkin. "Basically, I wanted the
politics of the movie to kind of happen out in the parking lot after the movie,
for just the discussion to happen."
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