WhippingBoy

25 May 2012

Gripping drama spy thriller, hope for sequel )

I followed the Valerie Plame/Joseph Wilson saga for years, watched their name being constantly being dragged thru the mud by the media arm of the republican party (Fox News and various blogs), and often took on blogs that slandered them (for the sport of it, of course ;). I even attended a dazzling speech Joseph Wilson gave when he came to CSU Monterey Bay.That being said, I did not expect a movie that would be as riveting and fascinating as this one was. For instance, we get to see what real international covert agent work is like, the often dangerous work needed to establish and maintain a network of contacts to gain inside intelligence, and the fact that these agents are neither extravagantly paid nor even recognized for the invaluable work they do for the country. I don't expect to see a sequel but I'm certain Valerie Plame will be inspiration for future spy thrillers. Fiction may entertain but there will always something more compelling in a true story.Naomi Watts is pitch-perfect as Valerie Plame, in looks and mannerisms (at least from I know from the Congressional hearings). Sean Penn doesn't look much like Joseph Wilson, scowls a bit more than I think Joseph Wilson does (Wilson strikes me as someone who can conceal his feelings on his face, otherwise perhaps he might not have been as successful a diplomat), but here gives a dynamic performance that feels very real, as if what we're seeing is a little bit of Sean Penn's own deep outrage at what the Bush Administration managed to get away with.While it probably would not have furthered the story in any way, I held out some hope that the movie named some names, such as Novak's back-peddling, the various bottom-feeders in the Fox News payroll that slandered Plame's name, such as the Toensing woman who, for months, insisted Plame was a low-level clerk - who appeared in front of Congress after Plame (go watch it, it's on YouTube). The depiction of Scooter Libby was amusingly smarmy but couldn't they not have sneaked in mention of Libby's old creepy sex-fantasy novel The Apprentice? But anyway, showing the real Valerie Plame at the end, testifying under oath to Congress that she was a real spy should be enough to end any debate among skeptics. But anyway, do go and see this movie - and bring your republican friend or family member and enjoy watching them squirm. Truth will set them free. :)

Stephen

25 May 2012

Pablum for moonbats

Well-acted pablum for moonbats. Joe Wilson's story has been found wanting by two bi-partisan committees and the outing of Plame came from the State Department, not Cheney. As propaganda it probably rates a B.What's with the camera?

gradyharp

25 May 2012

Pulsating Drama, Appropriate Time

FAIR GAME serves several purposes; it is a thriller of a suspense moviethat entertains, it addresses one of the most controversial aspects ofAmerican military action in years, and it dares to open the secretdoors of the Bush Administration. Based on the book 'The Politics ofTruth' by Joseph Wilson the film has been summarized as follows:'Joseph Charles Wilson IV (born November 6, 1949) is a former UnitedStates diplomat best known for his 2002 trip to Niger to investigateallegations that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase yellowcakeuranium; his New York Times op ed piece, "What I Didn't Find in Niger";and the subsequent "outing" of his wife Valerie Plame as a CIA agent.'and the book "Fair Game' by Valerie Plame. The books have beentransformed into a bitingly vital screenplay by Jez and John-HenryButterworth and the film is searingly directed by Doug Lyman. Why the film didn't enjoy a better success in the theaters is likelydue to the still festering difference of opinion as to the pre-emptivewar on Iraq, a war declared because of the 'evidence' that Iraq hadWeapons of Mass destruction that is now approaching 10 years inactivity despite the embarrassingly early declaration by that the warhad been 'won' soon after declaration. What FAIR GAME offers isWilson's defense of his wife Valerie Plame's role in the CIA and howthe government dealt with the cover-up and smoke screen and othershenanigans by Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and other White House officialswho revealed Plame's status as a CIA agent and were allegedly out todiscredit her husband after he wrote a 2003 New York Times op-ed piecesaying that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence aboutweapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq. The actors are consistently superb throughout the large cast - NaomiWatts as Valerie Plame, Sean Penn as Joe Wilson, Bruce McGill as JimPavitt, Adam LeFevre as Karl Rove, David Andrews as Scooter Libby - andthe many film clips of President Bush's televised speeches andstatements from VP Dick Cheney et al add credence to the atmosphere. Itis a film about the value of truth and as such it makes us all thinkmore carefully about our current further involvement in the manybattles currently being fought in the countries of the Middle East.There is a speech Joe Wilson gives to his class at the end of the filmthat challenges his students to always defend democracy - the legacy ofour Founding Fathers - and it is this speech that is the mostcompelling writing in the film. A fine cast delivers a compelling filmand it is a film all Americans should see. Grady Harp

Peter Bradshaw

24 May 2012

It is complacent and fatuous in a way that only a preeningly well-intentioned Hollywood drama can be.

Matthew Turner

23 May 2012

Fair Game is engaging, provocative and superbly acted, but it takes too long to get going and the true story is so gripping that you occasionally find yourself wondering if it might have been better served by a documentary.

23 May 2012

I Hate to Agree

"Fair Game" is about a serious criminal event that occurred during the Cheney Administration. It deserved a far better presentation; it needed less chaotic direction and a male star who didn't bull his way through the role. I hate to agree with those who dislike this film because it tells a politically disagreeable truth that they don't want known, but it just isn't very good. The one star above the minimum is for Naomi Watts for showing up in front of the cameras.

Chris Bumbray

22 May 2012

A finely crafted political thriller, with superb performances from Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.

21 May 2012

way too biased

I think that the leak of Valerie Plame was horrible. And yet, watching this movie, what little I knew seemed highly misrepresentative. The characterization portrayed by the actors for the White House correspondent (Ari Fleischer?) and Karl Rove were way off. Made me think the way Scooter Libby was characterized was also extremely biased. Also, knowing that Sean Penn is a liberal made me think it was biased. George Clooney, who is also a liberal, managed to produce a much more thought-provoking movie, the American. This felt like a bad Monday night ABC special movie.

Owen Gleiberman

21 May 2012

Fair Game gets you riled up all over again at a deeply unpatriotic abuse of power.

adamo100

20 May 2012

Painfully Slow After the first Hour

As a movie (not a historical documentary) this is so very boring.You the viewer, expect some chemistry to develop between the twocharacters but not. if you are looking to re-live history maybe youwill like it. The move seems to start strong but falls off about halfway through the picture. Not sure if the director had a lot shot andwas trying to squeeze in his justifications. Or if the movie was goingto be too short a run time so they filled it with "fluff shots" to makethe run time.This is not just one man's review. I went with four people to see thismovie. We were all looking at our watches waiting for it to be over.If you are looking for an entertaining movie, this is not the movie youare looking for.

Kenneth Turan

19 May 2012

It seems to be doing everything right but still doesn't manage to leave you with a completely satisfied feeling.

Roger Moore

19 May 2012

For every spycraft scene, every illustration of the deadly blowback from the leak that Liman dramatizes, the movie has half a dozen scenes of a delicately balanced home life turned on its head by a government bent on destroying one of its critics.

MHMovieReviews

19 May 2012

Political Identity

"Fair Game" is a film directed by Doug Liman ("The Bourne Identity,""Mr. and Mrs. Smith") based on the memoir "Fair Game: My Life as a Spy,My Betrayal by the White House" by Valerie Plame. Sean Penn is backafter taking a two-year acting break since his second Best Acting Oscarfor "Milk" in 2008. He plays the character of Politician Joe Wilsonalongside Naomi Watts' portrayal of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Togetherthese two tell the true story behind the weapons of mass destructionscare in 2002 and 2003 in Iraq that ultimately lead the United Statesto war. Valerie Plame is in the middle of the investigation of WMDs inIraq. In order to learn more about the possible WMDs the government hasValerie's husband Joe travel as an ambassador to Niger in order to getinformation about the sale of uranium from Niger to Iraq. Joe learnsthat there is not going to be a sale but the government twists thestory. After viewing the State of the Union Address Joe Wilson decidesto write an article in the New York Times stating the truth behind whathe found in Niger challenging the White House directly. In response,the government declassifies Valerie's status as a CIA agent making her"Fair Game" and putting her directly in the public eye in order tobring shame to her husband and her family. This sparks a fire withinJoe to fight the White House, but also begins to tear him and his wifeapart. "Fair Game" allows Naomi Watts and Sean Penn to let loose and take overthe screen with their acting talents. Watts doe a very good job withher role portrayal of hard shelled Valerie Plame. She is able to createthe stubborn exterior of Plame while showing her emotional side deepwithin. Congratulations is in order for her being able to stand outwhile on screen with Hollywood superstar and Academy favorite SeanPenn. All of the talk about the film has been directed towards Watts asOscar season approaches, but it would be no surprise if Penn receivesan Oscar birth as well. He is phenomenal in the film creating a veryunique character breaking through the clichés that could have been.Both of these actors are able to give the film heart and show thestrength that the couple had in order to fight the corrupt governmentsector leading to the fall of Scooter Libby.The film is slow to start as the back story is built however, while thecharacters of Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson are developed completely allof the other characters seem to be left behind. They come off as justwalking through the motions making it very hard to connect anddifferentiate between them. This can be attributed to one of twothings. Either the acting is less than adequate, or there are so manycharacters that Watts interacts with at the CIA it are hard to put aname with any of the faces. "Fair Game" is a political thriller that needed to be made. However, itis your job as the audience to reach out and see it because of itslimited film release. Go see it now in order to learn about the storyand note that a Best Picture Oscar nomination may be waiting for thisdark horse of this year's award season.

Nick Pinkerton

18 May 2012

The film's assertion of Plame and Wilson as real people rather than characters consists mostly of draining them of anything compelling.

Nick Schager

17 May 2012

Has all the excitement (and less of the depth) of a Wikipedia entry on the subject.

Daniel Hollis

17 May 2012

A Fantastic Political Thriller

Aiming at one demographic and not considering that some audiencesaren't familiar with the affairs can bring down sometimes bring downpolitical thrillers. In 2008 Ron Howard brought us Frost/Nixon, whichdealt with the interviews between former President Nixon and televisionhost David Frost. It was a subject I knew very little about but thefilm managed to address that and still make it entertaining andinteresting while actually involving the audience in it's subjectmatter. Fair Game does the same.Taking place in the build up to the Iraq war Naomi Watts plays a CIAagent juggling her dangerous job with her home life. Her husband(Played by Sean Penn) publishes a paper scrutinizing the Bushadministration of their involvement with Iraq and as a consequence hiswife's name is leaked to the public. Despite knowing very little of theevents leading up to the war in Iraq the film did a good job offamiliarizing the audience with the motives behind doing so. Based onreal events the film uses everyone's real name within each event thatoccurs and is not scared to show what it believes in and is trying torepresent. Alongside this however we also have the conflict playedbetween Watts and Penn as their beliefs of the American governmentdiffer. This story however isn't as strong as the message the film isshowing of how governments can make mistakes and be corrupt so playsbackbone to what could have made some interesting chemistry.That being said the film is a strong piece and stands up for what itbelieves in, not shying away from any of the details. The fact thatthis all happened is astonishing and even people who know very littleabout the Iraq war will still gain and be entertained by the themes ofcorruption and family.

Biggest_Loser

16 May 2012

The real Plame was apparently very pleased with this production. By the end theres little wonder why

Fair Game is based on the real life CIA agent Valerie Plame (NaomiWatts). The film starts prior to the Iraq War with Plame attempting toextract nuclear engineers from the country. Her colleagues are alsoprocessing evidence against Saddam, speculating whether he has bought aseries of tubes from Nigeria that can be used to construct nuclearweapons. Plame's husband is Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), an outspokenambassador who thrives on his more liberal views towards ideas liketerrorism and free speech. He visits Nigeria and his investigationreveals that a transfer of these particular tubes could not gounnoticed and were not taken to Iraq. The CIA is pressured by the WhiteHouse to come up with some evidence. The White House makes a publicstatement that the tubes were found and confirmed by the investigatingambassador. Wilson, knowing this was a lie is outraged and goes publicto reveal the falsity of the statements. To punish Wilson and Plame,the White House reveals Plame's identity as a CIA and suddenly shefinds her entire undercover career has been made redundant. Her imageis tarnished by the media and with mounting pressure from Joe to speakout publicly, her marriage starts to corrode. Smartly omitting overblown action sequences and shootouts, directorDoug Lima has chosen to make an intelligent CIA picture for adults. Thescreenplay was written by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, working fromboth Wilson and Plame's separate books, The Politics of Truth and FairGame. The first half of the film covers similar territory to films likeGreen Zone, unashamedly pointing the figure at the Bush administration.Yet there's plenty of fascinating new material here as well that allowsthe film to function like a companion piece to Paul Greengrass' work,rather than a rehash. This is a more mature look at the CIA than usual,working in an office, choosing to omit the assault rifle in favour ofprocessing data and information. Refreshingly the CIA is also presentedas a weaker organisation here too. In one powerful scene we see CIAagents throwing up in a bathroom because many of them are being houndedand interrogated by people brought in from the White House, pressuringthem to find information on the WMDs. The material is intensely handledand moments such as when Plame is snubbed by her colleagues and thenfollowed around her office are impacting because they constructed toinspire the film's ideas of paranoia, rather than for the sake ofvelocity. Despite the film's seemingly transparent leftwing agenda, thefilm is also balanced somewhat by reflecting on Plame's own failings toprotect the families of the engineers that she promised to help bringto the USA. The emotional and human aspects of the film are develop and sustainedwell into the second act as we see the decline of Plame's marriage.Watts, now one of the most credible performers in Hollywood, isentirely adept at playing emotionally fractured women. The greatestaspect of Watt's performance here is that she is able to emotionallyembody the way she has been stripped of her identity. Once she isdismissed from the job, her once straight-faced, hardened expressionsare then delicately contrasted with Plame's own raw emotionalqualities. Though much of the film is supplied with very strong, oftenwitty dialogue and just a small amount of CIA-speak, there is aparticular powerful monologue towards the end of the film where Wattsspeaks about her CIA training. It is in this poignant moment that werealise how much it meant to her pride and the film and Watt'sperformance both become actually quite moving. Penn bring his usualbrand of class and maturity to his role. It's a deeply personal andimportant project for him. His father, Leo Penn, was blacklisted in the1940s and 50s for publicly supporting Hollywood trade unions and wasdenied work as an actor. As such, Penn was born to play Joe Wilson. Hebrings a dose of cynicism to the part, but also an understandableamount of passion and sympathy to Wilson's need for truth and hisfrustration towards his wife's dilemma. It is a powerful divide thatthe couple find themselves caught in: whether to speak openly but riskopening themselves to mounting attacks by immeasurable political forcestoo. Although some may feel as though they are already aware of Plame'sstory, Fair Game is worth seeing alone for its two powerhouseperformances. It is a privilege to see two of the very best actors inthe world at the top of their form here. They have such a professionalgrasp on each of their characters. By smartly drawing from two sourcesfor the screenplay though, those who are unfamiliar with this scandalwill be rattled by this film's unflinching and uncompromised attack onthe Bush administration. This, along with material relating to thefailure of the CIA and the film's dogged belief in an honestadministration, ensures a thoroughly compelling perspective. The realPlame was apparently very pleased with this production. By the endthere's little wonder why.

16 May 2012

Fair Game

This review is from: Fair Game (DVD) Fast paced, well acted, and revealed more about Ms. Plames' mission than the book. The condition of the cd was verry good. I wish it was longer. I bought it "used" from Amazon.

dennispublic

15 May 2012

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it...

First of all: I'm not an American, so I have no interest in any of theleft wing vs right wing political immaturity that goes on there. Andsince I'm being honest: if this film was a work of fiction - itwouldn't have been that great, maybe a 6/10 IMDb rating.What makes this film absolutely mind blowing is that this stuffactually happened. Wow! You can argue the little details if you wish,but the bulk of this is public record and you're not kidding anyone.This gets an 8/10 on IMDb from me because it's non-fiction and it's avery very important story.The war in Iraq was a crime and the guilty should be required to watchthis movie, a few times. How many thousands of lives could have beensaved? Feel shame and learn from your mistakes. Get mad! Don't ever befooled like this again!!!Frankly this movie should be shown in schools for the next 100 years -it should be considered required viewing in History classes. I thinkit's important that this little piece of the past is not swept underthe rug anytime soon. I praise the makers of this film, I praise JoeWilson and Valerie Plame. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it - so cherish this 108minute reminder of America's greatest mistake.

Matt Mueller

15 May 2012

Liman juggles political intrigue with low-key domestic drama to polished, largely riveting effect. Great star turns, too.