Watch Charlie Wilson's War

Charlie Wilson's War is a biographical drama film that was filmed in 2007, which in turn is based on a true story. The movie takes place in 1980 and centers around the character of Charlie Wilson, a U.S. Representative played by Tom Hanks, who starts off being a happy-go-lucky person who frequently parties and enjoys being social, until he's investigated for using cocaine. After beating the drug charge, his love interest named Joanne Herring, played by Julia Roberts, insists that he take more action politically, such as trying to aid the Afghan people trying to fight against the Soviet Union. Wilson visits Pakistan to see the problem for himself, sees very little action being done and decides to increase funding for the mujahideen so they can fight the Soviets. He then involves himself with the CIA and helps launch an operation to do so with CIA agent Gust Avrakotos, played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Charlie Wilson's War was directed by Mike Nichols and produced by both Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman. The film is also based off the book of the same name, which was written by George Crile.