Fair Game (**½)
Directed by: Doug Liman
Starring: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Khaled El Nabawy, Sam Shepard,
Michael Kelly, Noah Emmerich, David Andrews, Adam LeFevre
Seen: February 7th 2011
**½ Out of ****
Fair Game doesn’t exactly whip me into a verbal frenzy of
recommendation, but neither does it inspire me to try and tear it apart. I’m
impartial here, as even though it is quite interesting, I won’t advise you to
run and go see it right now.
Fair Game’s tagline, “Wife. Mother. Spy”, is accurate, but slightly
misleading. Yes, it’s the (allegedly) true story of a CIA operative being
burned by the White House (or certain men in the White House), but there is very
little of the traditional movie-spy feel present. Valerie Plame (Watts) was a
CIA covert operative, but her work was fact finding, not much more. The movie
starts on a slight promise of some action as Plame approaches a Middle Eastern
dignitary and they discuss his safety in exchange for information, but nothing
exciting ever comes off it. You sense the stakes are high with quite a few scientists
and their families being in real danger if Plame can’t help them, but the most
danger any character is ever visibly portrayed to be in during the movie is
when shooting breaks out near a car in which one of the scientists and his son
are, but they manage to easily escape.
Plame is involved in CIA discussions regarding Iraqi WMD’s, and the
sources of certain necessary ingredients for creating said WMD’s. A discussion
around aluminium tubes possibly used in the enrichment process of yellow-cake Uranium,
another hot topic in the movie, turns into a shouting match between narcissistic
analysts. This leads Plame to recommend her husband, Joe Wilson (Penn), to
visit Niger, accused of allegedly selling staggering amounts of Uranium to Iraq,
because of his connection in the African country. When Joe finds such
allegations to be impossible, he reports these findings back to the CIA but
soon enough hears, in Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address, that his report
has been ignored, and Iraq is still accused of buying the Uranium from Niger –
which sparks war in Bagdad. Joe Wilson goes on the rampage, one solitary man
against the might of the White House, and in the process a White House
employee, Scooter Libby (Andrews) publically reveals Plame’s identity as a CIA
spy.
From here on in proceedings turn into allegations and
counter-allegations leading to Plame becoming a focal point for much unwarranted
hatred and threats, with the pressure stacking up against her and her husband,
causing the marriage to suffer as a consequence too. Plame is effectively disavowed
and left on the sidelines without any agency protection while her husband is discredited
at every turn. Naomi Watts and Sean Penn both do a great job at creating these
two characters, while Doug Liman directs what is probably one of his most
toned-down movies yet. Fair Game might not be a good movie, but for those
interested in American political cover-ups and warmongering on a different
scale, it will be an engaging 108 minutes. For my money however, Fair Game is
just a bit too slow with just a bit too little actually happening at all.
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