Fair Game: Movie Review

Fair Game: Movie Review

Fair Game
Rating: 7/10
Cast: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, David Andrews
Director: Doug Liman
Naomi Watts and Sean Penn reteam for a third time in this movie based on a true story.
Watts stars as CIA agent Valerie Plame, who works at the highest level within the government. The film begins in the aftermath of September the 11th, with the CIA trying to substantiate claims over who's behind the terror attacks and get the evidence needed to support the US government's stance on a war with Iraq.
But when Plame's husband, Joe Wilson (a fiery and defiant Sean Penn) writes an opinion piece in the New York Times in 2003 that the intelligence was manipulated to fit the White House, Plame's cover is blown.
She's revealed to the world as a CIA agent, endangering operations she has in play and lives she has promised to protect.
Not only does it endanger everything she's worked for, but the personal cost on the duo and their young family is crippling.
Fair Game is intelligent film-making, blessed with strong central performances.
While it takes a while to get going, the clever use of archival news footage from that time within the film sees a taut political drama start to unfold. The shaky camera work adds a grittiness (and at times, it must be said, a distraction) but it's really Watts and Penn who shine here. Penn, in particular, gets to vent his spleen well in the character who rages against the injustice - but a more quiet and restrained Watts brings the emotional intensity needed to balance that.
The initial humour ends very quickly as the story changes (on returning from a fact-finding mission to Niger, Wilson's character says he "doesn't feel very 007 right now") and soon, the drama has taken the front stage.

Engrossing and with an ending that certainly packs a powerful emotional punch, Fair Game is an interesting and gripping look into the old David and Goliath argument - and the personal toll beliefs can actually have on those involved.