Movies Reviews

Fair Game – Movie Review

By Anne Brodie Nov 4, 2010, 16:58 GMT

Plame\'s status as a CIA agent was revealed by White House officials allegedly out to discredit her husband after he wrote a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece saying that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq.  ...more

Fair Game is a chilling cautionary tale, based on the real life events of the outing of Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) as a CIA agent during the Bush administration. 

Her husband Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) a former US Ambassador, wrote an op-ed piece on the failure of the US military to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and therefore fought an unnecessary war. 
 
Plame claims she was outed by the White House in retaliation for her husband’s piece and he upped the ante by publically accused the government of leaking her name, ruining her career, and threatening their safety.
 
Not only was she outed, her position and successes as a “deep cover officer” were trivialised, in what they believed was an ongoing campaign of harassment to detract from the fact that Iran was weapons free.
Lewis “Scooter” Libby, according to the film, masterminded the attacks on Plame and Wilson, was eventually convicted on various counts related to the case. 

These huge events marriage put extraordinary stress on their marriage.  Their careers and reputations were hung out to dry and they are powerless to stop it.  Their sense of reality took a beating, and so did their trust in each other.
 
Watts and Penn are capable actors who bring real, visceral urgency and nuance to this wellknonw episode in US intelligence, bringing the burden of the betrayal right to their doorstep.

But the real tragedy, the collateral damage, was the vast network of Plame’s global “assets”, agents, and contacts that were left to flap in the wind after she was stripped of her responsibilities. 

She brought informants into the US spy circle on the promise of protection and safety.  There is no telling how many of her people went missing or were tortured or killed in such far flung places as Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, Africa and Indonesia.

The film has an early 2000’s style vibe of grainy, darkened blue, drained of colour, even scenes in Middle East’s bright sunshine.  It seems dated but an artistic choice that place them in a specific time. 

The performances are good across the board with particular bravos to Watts and Penn, who bring so much to their characters.  The film has the look and feel of so many before it in what could be called a subgenre of Middle East spy dramas; there’s no much new, but the story is a compelling one.

The film takes its time, as there is a lot of information and political and personal nuance to digest.
 
It seems important to make films like this, as a recent report states that 90% of Americans are not aware that the US had begun a war against Iraq based on an erroneous belief that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.

Visit the DVD database for more information.

35mm fact based drama
Written by Jez Butterworth, John Henry Butterworth based on memoirs by Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame
Directed by Doug Liman
Opens: Nov 5
Runtime: 107 minutes
Country: USA, United Arab Emirates
Language: English