Many may remember the sight of Soviet tanks crossing the border back from Afghanistan in 1989, but few would probably know the name of Charlie Wilson, who might just have been the man to make this happen. He was the cheerfully shady character living the good life, thanks to his understanding of Washington politics, who stumbled across a noble cause of a lifetime and championed it through the most bizarre of circumstances. Charlie Wilson’s War is based on the non-fiction bestseller by George Crile, which seems to have a lot of admirers, as one look at the personnel assembled for the big screen adaptation proves. The credit block seems like a convention of Oscar winners, and it is often the case that the result of such an intense concentration of talent is a letdown. The surprising thing here is that Charlie Wilson’s War effortlessly sidesteps any misgivings about its virtues. This is a smart, insightful, humorous and tightly told film. It is both entertaining and intelligent about its subject matter without ever resorting to moralising.

Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) is a congressman from Texas who knows that he can get away with his exceedingly liberal lifestyle and will get re-elected as long as he does not cause too many waves and keeps taxes low. We first see him in a hot tub with two Playboy playmates, still overlooking the news of the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan on TV. His reaction to the news is to double US aid for the Mujahideen (the Afghan freedom fighters) from $5 to $10 million just because he has a seat on the defense appropriations subcommittee. As a result of this he soon gets a call of praise from a friend and occasional lover named Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts), who happens to be obscenely rich and also takes the Afghan cause to heart. She also happens to be a close friend of Pakistani president Zia (Om Puri) with whom she shares an intense hatred for all things Soviet. One visit to president Zia and one harrowing eye-opener of a visit to an Afghan refugee camp later, Wilson knows what he wants to do with his power and connections. He wants to give the Mujahideen what they need to shoot down the fearsome Russian helicopters. This still being the Cold War, any American help to the Afghan must be under the table – simply sending them American guns is out of the question. Enter blue-collar CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who is frustrated that his hefty expertise on the Middle East remains mostly idle and who sees in Wilson the man with power who can make a difference. Soon enough, the two are brokering an unholy alliance between the Israeli and the Arabs to get Russian guns to the Afghans with the help of a Texan stripper, while at the same time the US help for the Mujahideen steadily grows to a billion dollars.

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (West Wing) knows his politics and distils well the key points and the dynamic connections among the multitude of players, while director Mike Nichols brings alluring humour into the proceedings by simply having his character stay true to bizarre political parlance. From top to bottom the cast appreciates what Sorkin and Nichols are doing and stays on the required wavelength and savours the material with relish. Hanks is not one’s immediate choice for a Texas good ol’ boy, but he conjures a bewildered fundamental goodness that has the audience immediately on his side; it is easy to accept at face value his keeping an office of beautiful (and smart) women who adore him. Roberts is given fairly little to do, but she expertly evokes the woman whom Charlie is willing to move mountains to please. Sporting a sizable belly, an 80s hairdo and a moustache, Hoffman steals scenes at every opportunity, be it with his version of petty office rage or by balancing dignity and sleazy profanity. There are brief yet committed appearances by the likes of Ned Beatty, Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, while Ken Scott is handed the most memorable cameo as an Israeli arms connection.

At 94 expertly paced minutes, the film does not have the time to flaunt the ironies linking the end of the Cold War with the situation of today; it only acknowledges them by telegraphing its general view of how the Mujahideen gave way to the Taliban. As such it is topical only by association, but this does not prevent it from being smart, poignant and entertaining in equal parts.