A suspense-filled glimpse into the dark corridors of political power, FAIR GAME is a riveting action-thriller based on the autobiography of real-life undercover CIA operative VALERIE PLAME (Naomi Watts), whose career was destroyed and marriage strained to its limits when her covert identity was exposed by a politically motivated press leak. As a covert officer in the CIA’s Counter-Proliferation Division, Valerie leads an investigation into the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Valerie’s husband, diplomat JOE WILSON (Sean Penn), is drawn into the investigation to substantiate an alleged sale of enriched uranium from Niger. But when the administration ignores his findings and uses the issue to support the call to war, Joe writes a New York Times editorial outlining his conclusions and ignites a firestorm of controversy.
When Valerie Plames’ life starts to unravel both publicly and privately, the sheer weight of the situation seems too much for an average Mother and Wife. Valerie, however, digs in and refuses to let situation overwhelm her and give in. Well paced and superbly acted, Fair Game bucks most of the trends that seem to bog down the political thriller movie.
Doug Liman never lets things get too slow and while films like The Green Zone tend to be an overly stylized ball of air, this film has the weight of a true craftsman at work.
It looks great and Liman delivers a very thrilling yet personal story. Naomi Watts and Sean Penn play well off each other and its their relationship that is really whats at stake. Mixing real footage and using real peoples names gives the film a sense of reality and makes you question what are we really being told in the media.
Fair Game is a cracker of a movie as well as being a fantastic character study.
I give this film 3 and a half stars.
It opens nationally on Thursday 25th of November