Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 Academy Award-nominated biographical drama film based on the true story of Democratic Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, who conspired with a "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative named Gust Avrakotos to launch an operation to help the Afghan mujahideen resist and ultimately defeat the Soviet Union's military occupation of the nation.The film is adapted from George Crile's 2003 book Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History. It is directed by Mike Nichols, written by Aaron Sorkin, and stars Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Ned Beatty. It was nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, including "Best Motion Picture", but did not win in any category. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Supporting Actor," the film's only Oscar nomination, but did not win in the category.
Wilson is seen cavorting decadently in a Las Vegas hot tub among naked women and implied drug use when he catches a "60 Minutes" TV broadcast showing Dan Rather reporting remotely from Afghanistan and in full native dress. Rather (via original footage) is shown reporting on the struggles of the Afghan resistance, primarily the mujahideen, with not only the Soviet invasion, but with wholly inadequate equipment and weapons. This moves Wilson to look into matters further and upon finding how little the United States was doing to help the Afghan fighters, he uses his Congressional position on two important defense committees to summarily double the U.S. assistance from a paltry $5 million to a slightly less paltry $10 million.
