Hanks for that

I have to admit, I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder about "Charlie Wilson's War." About eight years ago, Tom Hanks and his partner Gary Goetzman optioned my book "Joy in Mudville" for a film for Universal. About a month later, they bought up George Crile's book about Charlie Wilson, and my heart sank. Well, it took them eight years to bring it to the screen, god bless 'em, while poor old "Joy in Mudville" remains in development hell. But I have to say, good-time "Charlie" is well worth seeing. I think the flick could have used another couple minutes on the Osama link -- I kept expecting him to appear in footage from Afghanistan -- but there's a great subtle moment near the end when the Philip Seymour Hoffman CIA character informs Hanks, outdoors at a party, that despite the Soviet defeat we were really asking for trouble in Afghanistan. As they chat you faintly hear a jetliner overhead. It's subtle, could just be ambient noise, but chilling nonetheless....