Reviews

****Contains Spoilers***** Pure Genius. For fans of Literature, I'm assuming this was a representation of "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I died"

Walt speaks of his "perfect time" to die would have been before meeting with Jane's Dad or witnessing Jane's death. The fly represents the "contamination" in Walt's head with trying to reconcile what he's doing and if what he's doing is really helping his family.

This is why the episode ends with the fly back again...Walt's conscious will get the best of him. However, he's let go of the guilt and shame he feels over Jane's death by "apologizing" to Jesse. And "pressurizing" the room.

PURE GENIUS of an Episode. A bit "esoteric" if you're not a fan of Literature...but pure GENIUS!

Read the Poem:(by Emily Dickinson) Dying I heard a fly buzz when I died;

The stillness round my form Was like the stillness in the air

Between the heaves of storm.

The eyes beside had wrung them dry,

And breaths were gathering sure For that last onset, when the king

Be witnessed in his power.

I willed my keepsakes, signed away

What portion of me I Could make assignable,-and then

There interposed a fly,

With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz,

Between the light and me; And then the windows failed, and then

I could not see to see.

*********************** (sorry, IMDb does not preserve line breaks....will have to read the original on the EDU page).

I heard a Fly buzz" strikingly describes the mental distraction posed by irrelevant details at even the most crucial moments-even at the moment of death.---Excerpt from Sparknotes

to read further critique of the poem go here: academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/fly.html

This is a GREAT movie that's very well played out by all the actors in the film.

Sandra Bullock pulls off the "Memphis Belle" without being stereotypical or fake. I never once thought I saw an Actor on screen. (See Julia Roberts in "Charlie Wilson's War"--for someone who COMPLETELY misses the mark on the "stereotypical Texas Southern" woman).

This movie has Heart, without being sappy or fake.

It does have it's moments where you think, "did they have to go there" (and plays all too stereotypical--for instance, when Oher runs back to his "Hood" life while searching his soul.

However, all in all, this is a great Holiday movie with a great real life ending to the story.

The Coen Brothers never cease to amaze me. I must admit, you have to be a Coen Brothers fan to get a Coen Brothers movie, but once you get their style/message, it's PURE BRILLIANCE. Modern day Voltaire's

"Burn After Reading", gives us a Dim Whit Personal Trainer played by BradPitt (note: If you're a fan of Brad Pitt because of his Character in Fight club--you're in for a rude awakening in this one!). STUD he is NOT!

A Lady who only cares about fixing her physical appearance.

Clooney, who plays the goof-ball, will sleep with anyone he has a chance to sleep with---(f.y.i. the "back pillow" scene is CLASSIC).

Essentially, this is a movie where the audience gets to drop in on the (unlikely) interconnected/intersected lives of nothing BUT Self Serving Idiots, all of whom meet their "demise" because of their own self serving interests.

GREAT SHOW! Worthy of Voltaire--"The aptitude for quick, perceptive, cutting, witty and often scathingly critical repartee" (WikiPedia)---describes "Burn After Reading" exactly.

P.S. When watching, take special note of each Characters Hair. Nice Plot Device! :=)

As a Christmas Popcorn movie, Charlie Wilson's War deserves praise. It's an enjoyable movie, that when graded through the eyes of 2-hours of "Bubble Gum" Entertainment, deserves a recommendation to see.

However, when you step back and critique this movie based upon the character development and the story telling of one of the United States most influential, history changing individuals, Charlie Wilson's War really misses the mark.

The Casting is what makes and breaks this movie, and unfortunately more mistakes were made than not.

The most enjoyable performance of this movie comes from Philip Seymour Hoffman. I personally believe that Philip Seymour Hoffman is hands down the best (male) Character Actor of our generation.

Hoffman plays Gust Avrakotos, the renegade C.I.A. agent who befriends and assists Charlie Wilson's efforts. Although Gust is not "Cowboy Texan", Hoffman's portrayal shows us the kind of renegade, Cowboy, us against them, do whatever it takes to get it done attitude that it took to under take and WIN a Covert War.

Hoffman's portrayal allows us to cheer for this flawed character, even when Gust complete lack of political grace could have possibly scored him some needed C.I.A. friends. It's because of Hoffman's acting that we cheer for Gust, we UNDERSTAND Gust and we WANT Gust to win at all costs.

Unfortunately, the rest of off the mark casting pulls the rest of the movie down.

First, we have the horrendously off mark casting of Julia Roberts as Joanne Herring Undoubtedly, Ms. Roberts is a stellar actress. When we watched her as Erin Brockovich, we completely forgot we were watching a movie. We BELIEVED she was the character Erin Brockovich--that by definition is GREAT ACTING.

However as Joanne Herring she is way off mark. Robert's performance was 2-dimensional and plastic and bordered on "annoying" at best. The "real" Joanne Herring is a colorful, stereotypical, larger than life, Houston Socialite.

We're first introduced to Robert's character as she sends a lower ranking assistant to fetch her a Martini. While, on paper, this might be the typical actions of Joanne Herring, the "real" Joanne Herring, would have pulled this request off with a little more "charm"--"old money" if you will. However, with Robert's portrayal, we're forced to find resentment and contempt in this simple act.

Further more, the character development of Joanne Herring consists of the back drop that surrounds her. We're forced to create our impression of just who Joanne is as we see her strolling about her mansion and her--if you read between the lines--just how connected she really is conversations.

An example of missing the mark is Mike Nichols portrayal of Ms. Herring in Afghanistan. In "real life" Joanne Herring did NOT acquiesce and wear the head scarf and traditional covering for a woman in a Muslim country. She dressed as a typical Houstonian, tight Sweaters and tight blue jeans.

I realize this artistic change was most likely done as to not offend Muslim Viewers and to keep Joanne Herring as a back ground prop for HIS TELLING of Charlie Wilson's story.

Next, the Tom Hanks casting. Again, we have a character, Charlie Wilson, that quite literally changed the course of American History. A no-name Texan, with a drink in one hand, a woman in another, and that stereotypical Cocky, Overly Confident, Cowboy that personifies what it is to be a Texas Cowboy.

Unfortunately, Tom misses the mark. Through Hank's portrayal, We cheer for Charlie, we like Charlie, but we never get inside his head and realize what makes him tick. We never get to FEEL the RAW emotion that drives Charlie's efforts.

For example, when Hanks describes what caused him (Charlie) to become interested in Politics. In "real life", the poisoning and ultimate intensely painful death of his dog was A LIFE ALTERING EVENT. It is this event that started Charlie Wilson's desire for Politics. Through Hanks portrayal, we don't FEEL the RAW emotion that Charlie Wilson must have felt in real life.

This LIFE ALTERING event is presented to us through a conversation Hanks has with his assistant on an Air Plane. it's as if his dog were an after thought and fodder for conversation to pass the time on a plane. I was tremendously disappointed this was not portrayed either through a flash back or with more RAW emotion of Hanks portrayal.

Finally, we must remember this story took place in the 1980's. The HEIGHT of the cold War. The Soviet Union and the United States enemies. Had the Soviet Union won in Afghanistan, paying $11 per Gallon of Gas would have been the least of our worries in the 21st century. (Could you imagine a Cold War enemy, after taking over Afghanistan, rolling into Saudi Arabia, taking over Saudi Arabia, then getting together with Iran and Iraq. Again, paying $11 per Gallon of Gas would be the least of our worries. Mike Nichols never shows us this ramification. He never presents to the Viewer just what MIGHT BE had Charlie Wilson's efforts fail. Furthermore, Nichols fails to show us just how important winning this war was in the course of history. How the Soviet's defeat precipitated the collapse of the Soviet empire and the falling of Berlin Wall.

As I mentioned above, if you watch this movie expecting a nice 2-hour, "Bubble Gum" pop movie, you'll enjoy the experience.

If you go to this movie expecting to learn more about the events of the time, WHO Charlie Wilson was, what made him tick, hear character dialogue regarding discussions/debate about what MIGHT HAVE happened had Charlie's Efforts failed, and just precisely how Charlie Wilson is one of America's Greatest Heroes, you'll leave feeling disappointed and cheated out of this desirable experience.