Deborah Ross

Bombs and butts

Charlie Wilson’s War<br /> <em>15, Nationwide</em>

issue 12 January 2008

Charlie Wilson’s War
15, Nationwide

Mike Nichols’s latest film is a mixed bag and a stuffed bag and, incredibly, none the worse for either. In its rat-a-tat, rapid-fire 95 minutes you get bombings, mines, refugee camps, casualties, hot tubs, Playboy cover girls, arms dealers, cocaine, scandal, Tom Hanks’s naked butt (surprisingly delicious; peachy), CIA agents, world presidents — and all in a movie that is partly serious political satire and partly just a hoot.

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