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In the early 1980s when the Afghan Mujahideen were fighting desperately to check the Russian advance into their country, Charlie Wilson was one of the charming lawmakers on the Hill who was largely ignored.
- Gulf News Reports
- Published: 00:10 May 29, 2008
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Charlie wilson's war
Cast: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman
In the early 1980s when the Afghan Mujahideen were fighting desperately to check the Russian advance into their country, Charlie Wilson was one of the charming lawmakers on the Hill who was largely ignored.
But it was Wilson's efforts that led to the Red Army quitting Afghanistan in 1989. More significant, as Tom Hanks, who plays the titular character in Charlie Wilson's War, says "... to give Charlie his credit, he severed the Achilles heel of the Soviet Union. Just nine months after they pulled out of Afghanistan the Berlin Wall came down." The lethal body blow that they received in Afghanistan prevented the Soviets from defending their borders in East Germany and Poland.
Spurred on by his longtime friend Joanne Herring (Roberts), a wealthy Texan who hated communists, Wilson flies to Pakistan to meet President Mohammad Zia Ul-Haq and sketch a strategy to give a boost to the Afghan resistance. Zia is sceptical, especially as Wilson's budget is ridiculously small.
Still, knowing that the Congressman is fair and does not promise anything he can't deliver, Zia arranges a trip to a refugee camp in Peshawar so that Wilson can see for himself the plight of the refugees.
With help from CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Hoffman), Wilson ropes in several countries and succeeds in getting covert annual funding increased from $5million to $1billion.
Director Mike Nichols made sure that the political and historical aspects were covered, but focused on the human angle.
And to see that the filmmakers got his motivations right, Charlie Wilson himself visited the set in the early stages of filming. Hanks, Roberts and Hoffman are also in top form.
Rating: 15.
- By Cyril Pinto, e+ Editor
National Treasure 2
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren
When Thomas Gates is linked to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his great great grandson Benjamin (Cage) sets out to clear his name.
All Ben and his father Patrick (Voight) have is a burnt page from John Wilkes Booth's diary, which fortunately yields a coded clue. But it's in an extinct language which, again fortunately, Ben's mother Emily (Mirren) understands.
In the first installment of National Treasure, Ben and company were in search of the loot of the Knights Templar; here they are looking for the City of Gold. The search leads them to Paris, Buckingham Palace and the White House. But Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris), the man who seeks to impugn Thomas Gates name is not far behind, getting hold of the clues as soon as they are uncovered.
While the movie calls for a great deal of suspension of belief (kidnapping the US president is no big deal), the special effects are great. Besides there are loads of special features on this 2-disc set.
Rating: G
- By Cyril Pinto, e+ Editor
Enchanted
Cast: Amy Adams, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Patrick Dempsey
Just beyond the meadows of joy and valleys of contentment lies the animated kingdom of Andulasia. As in most fairytales, there's an evil queen, Narissa, (Sarandon) who covets the throne. If she doesn't act quickly, her stepson Prince Edward (Marsden) will meet princess-to-be Giselle (Adams) and all will be lost.
After several efforts to eliminate her with poisoned apples, Narissa has Giselle pushed down a well, despatching her to a place where "there are no happily ever-afters", which is modern-day Manhattan. However now the princess is no longer an animated character, but a normal human. In Manhattan, she meets divorce lawyer Robert Phillip (Dempsey) who provides her shelter.
Meanwhile, Edward also comes to Manhattan to save Giselle. An alarmed Narissa, who is keeping track of Giselle's movements from the other side, sends an aide to kill her and when he fails to do the needful comes to earth herself.
The movie is enchanting and so are numbers such as the Happy Working Song, featuring a chorus of rats, pigeons and cockroaches, and That's How You Know with a cast of 150 singers and dancers frolicking in Central Park.
Disney fans, especially, will be thrilled by moments that bring to mind older classics.
Rating: G
- By Cyril Pinto, e+ Editor
Shaurya
Year: 2008
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Rahul Bose, Javed Jaffery, Kay Kay Menon, Minnisha Lamba and Amrita Rao
Director Samar Khan's Shaurya quite obviously draws its inspiration from the Hollywood military-court drama A Few Good Men but it tries to be different by focusing on the purported army excesses on religious grounds.
The story is about a seemingly open and shut military court case where a subordinate soldier has shot and killed his senior officer.
His fellow soldiers and seniors have testified against him and it is practically the end of the road for him.
If the prosecutor (Javed Jaffrey) is serious and taciturn, then his best friend, the defence counsel, (Rahul Bose) is a carefree happy-go-lucky guy who has never taken life seriously. With his client maintaining stony silence about the murder, there is not much scope for the defence counsel. But then a nosy reporter (Minnisha Lamba) points out the probable discrepancies in the case.
Now the duo will have to summon up all their investigative ability to try and prove the innocence of the reticent accused.
With a tough, overbearing area commanding officer (Kay Kay Menon) creating all sorts of obstacles in the investigation, it is going to be a really difficult challenge to surmount.
No doubt, the director's attempt to tackle a politically prickly issue of army excesses is laudable and courageous, but the scenes need more details, more logic, more reason and more firepower to make a real impact. Shaurya could have been a good, thought-provoking film but it just ends up laying claim to presenting something different (but still unoriginal) in the realms of modern Hindi cinema.
- By Mandr V Bichu
State and Main
Writer-director: David Mamet
Cast: Alec Baldwin, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sarah Jessica Parker and Rebecca Pidgeon
Writer-director David Mamet's film State and Main brings Hollywood's up-market celebrities to a practically unknown small town with hilarious and disastrous consequences. The comedy pokes fun at the stereotypical images of Hollywood stars and small-town folk.
Searching for an old mill for their film's major shooting sequence, a big Hollywood crew lands up in Waterfront Vermont. When it becomes apparent that the historic old mill burnt 40 years ago, the cash-strapped director (Tom Macy) has no other choice but to ask his writer (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to come up with an alternative script. On one hand, the uptight director has to contend with a heroine (Sarah Jessica Parker) refusing to expose in front of the camera and on the other hand, his superstar hero (Alec Baldwin) is busy seducing young girls. With the town mayor's star-crazy wife going all-out to throw a special party and the owner of the town's bookshop ditching her fiancé for the film's writer, the idyllic lives of town folk are going for a tail-spin.
The film works mainly because as a writer Mamet manages to create a colourful script full of zany characters and crazy comic situations. It also works because even though these characters are quirky, their portrayal is entirely believable thanks to some wonderful casting and performances.
- By Mandr V Bichu
Who's the Man?
Cast: Doctor Dre
Harlem's streets are getting cleaned up by two new cops. Once bumbling barbers, these two have reluctantly joined New York police force and their funny law-enforcement methods are succeeding. The film has cameos by more than 50 hip-hop artistes.
- By Mandr V Bichu
Suburban Commando
Cast: Hulk Hogan
Wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan plays Shep Ramsey – a galactic warrior stranded on earth. When his evil nemesis tracks him down from across the universe, Shep has to team up with earthlings to counter him. This is an entertaining action-comedy for kids.
- By Mandr V Bichu
Gauri – The unborn
Cast: Atul Kulkarni
Bowing to their daughter's demands, a married couple reluctantly comes to visit their ancestral home. But some unseen force linked to an incident in their past is waiting there to torment them. This horror film is passable and tries to give a social message.
- By Mandr V Bichu
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