Charlie Wilson is a fairly unorthodox congressman, devoted as he is more to having a good time than the machinations of politics, but much to his surprise, and with a sharp shove from a past love, Charlie finds a passion that doesn't involve his own pleasure; helping Afghanistan fight the invading Russians through covert American funding. Considering the present situation in Afghanistan and the light hearted nature of this film Charlie Wilson's War would seem a doomed enterprise but the script is so sharp and so well performed (Philip Seymour Hoffman as a cantankerous CIA agent with authority issues ruthlessly thieves every scene he's in) that it's rose tinted values can be largely forgiven and if the banter reminds you of an episode from ‘West Wing' that'd be because they share the same writer. A surprising pleasure.