Two for one

In the past few days I've seen two movies about Afghanistan: one somewhat disappointing, and the other incredibly moving. Can you guess which was which?

Interestingly, I was out of sync with most reviewers, including the NY Times and those tracked on Rotten Tomatoes. I thought "Charlie Wilson's War" was somewhat dull and one-note, and was really surprised by how much I enjoyed "The Kite Runner." Why have my tastes converged so far from the median? Maybe I'm just tired of "big" roles embodied by the likes of movie stars like Tom Hanks (all middle age thickness and graying hair) and Julia Roberts (all southern big hair and red lipstick), and find fresh, unknown faces, more interesting and compelling. Criticisms of "The Kite Runner" included the inauthenticity of the setting, and yet a man sitting behind me said, with some apparent authority, that they'd "gotten most of it right."

I don't know. I have yet to put together my year end list, but I think that "The Kite Runner" will be in my top five.