© DR - FAIR GAME -de Andrew Sipes (1995) p5 par tellurikwaves blog (75 Paris)

In my opinion most blockbusters are watchable movies. Some are good, some are not so good. Some are even quite bad, but they try so hard to offer something for everyone that there usually are at least some things in the movie you like. But because they do offer something for everyone, they usually also have some things you don't like. However, once in a while a film comes along which focuses solely on it's own target audience. Sometimes the critics and fans of so-called 'quality cinema' are the target audience. In those cases we have films like "American Beauty". Sometimes fans of sex-related teen-comedies are the target audience and we have a film like "American Pie". And sometimes fans of pure action-entertainment are the target audience and we have a film like "Fair Game".

This is a film which most people have a strong opinion of. Others love it while others hate it. What's interesting is that the reasons for the opinion of the film are the same for both people. Others hate it because it's unbelievably dumb, excessively violent, has an unoriginal plot, stupid dialogue and has no good actors. However, others love it for the same reasons. And I'm one of those people.The film is based on Paula Gosling's novel of the same name. It's interesting to notice that Sylvester Stallone's actioner "Cobra" was also based on the same novel but the films have very little in common. About the only thing they share is the hate of the critics and the love of action-fans. What's even more interesting is that Stallone was originally attached to this film as well.

Anyway, about this film.. While it's true that no-one has been able to make a good macho-actioner since the 80s (except Steven Seagal and even he is now making films like "The Patriot"), this is a quality effort if there ever was one. This has everything I want (a macho cop as the hero, a sexy woman as his sidekick, lots of action and gratuitous violence) and nothing I don't (a deep and original plot, Academy Award-winning actors, emotional scenes between mom and daughter...). Actually many scenes here are so stupid that they could be considered campy and even if you aren't a fan of the genre, you might enjoy laughing at the movie's unintentional humor.One of the things which always means a lot to me in films is the score and "Fair Game" has one of the best scores I've ever heard. I liked Mark Mancina's score to "Speed" and "Bad Boys" but they're nothing compared to this. A brilliant main theme combined with excellent underscore. Full marks.

There is also the traditional "You killed my partner. Big mistake, you hear me? Wanna know why? Because I'm gonna come and get every last one of you!"-threat from Baldwin. I love those lines, I really do. "Cobra" was filled with them and the mid-80s was a good time for macho-actioners.In fact, "Fair Game" is like a throwback to the 80s, when Joel Silver still made good actioners (Commando, Action Jackson, Die Hard, Road House - all brilliant). Of course it's not intelligent. Of course it's not original. Of course it's not a film which makes people think about their lives. It is pure action-entertainment, nothing more and nothing less. This will definitely appeal to fans of "Cobra", "Action Jackson" and the early Steven Seagal-films. However, if you don't like action, pure action and nothing but the action - skip it. Even if you liked films like "Speed" and "Face/Off", you might not like this.Gunfights, explosions, gratuitous violence, gratuitous nudity (from Cindy Crawford, no less!), a brilliant score..what more could a guy who loves action ask? Definitely a 10.

Even though I haven't read the book, if you ask me, FAIR GAME is an excellent film that is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish and blow you away. I said that because Kirkpatrick (William Baldwin) and Kate (Cindy Crawford) were always on the run from danger. Also, I loved Rita (Salma Hayek). I just wish her role in the movie had been bigger. In my opinion, the performances were top grade, the direction was superior, the costumes were perfectly designed, and the cast was perfectly chosen. Also, the soundtrack is really good, too. Before I wrap this up, I must warn you that this movie is very violent if you're going to see it, so viewer discretion is strongly advised. Now, in conclusion, if you like Andrew Sipes films or enjoyed Paula Gosling's title novel, I highly recommend this movie. It's sure to keep you guessing from start to finish.

Fair Game is one of those films that teaches you things you never realised were true until it happened on screen. Things like this:

- Explosions that blow up a mansion, and send someone flying into the water never leave a mark on that person. But they will have blood on their clothes, irregardless.
- Teams of expert assassins can be beaten by one cop.
- It's not humanly possible for a bad guy to kill someone without using a one-liner first. This may explain why they don't feel any remorse.
- Cars blow up on impact, regardless of where the impact is and what the impact is with. Unless of course our hero is in the car, in which case, it just catches fire.
- Perfect looking fake IDs aren't necessarily done with the use of any computers.
- Letters that look like 3s, but aren't, are found by typing in '3' into the computer.
- Employees of small stores swear freely and loudly while on the phone in the store.
- Continuity is not important. It can easily flow from late afternoon, before the sun starts to set at all, to well after the sun has set, in a matter of seconds.
- Choppers can't be heard over bad sex scene music and Cindy Crawford's disinterested moaning.
- Cops leave the safety off when they put their gun away.
- Trained assassins watch their target do a random Baldwin brother instead of actually doing their job.
- A bomb counts down from 2 minutes 57 seconds to 1 minute 47 seconds in just under 15 seconds. That bomb then proceeds to blow up everything except the room the bomb is located in.

My moron friend John says that this movie is tripe but in reality this is one of the finest accomplishments of modern cinema. Fair Game incorporates elements from every terrible action/suspense/thriller movie and creates the ultimate viewing experience in that you get the best of everything and the worst of nothing. Also, Cindy looks really great. After all, the only reason for watching movies is to see lead actresses, right? Okay, this is not a GOOD movie so much as it is an enjoyable one. Seriously, watch it at least twice for the full experience.

Definitely not Oscar material, but a good late night watch. Lots of action and stunts. Cindy Crawford can't act, but who cares!? The plot involves some high tech Ruskies who are after Cindy, as F.B.I. Agent Billy Baldwin comes to the rescue. There is ensuing sexual tension.

Okay, so it's got hardly any plot and what there is doesn't make much sense. So it was doomed to be slated by critics the second Cindy Crawford said yes. So the film may have the world record for the number of scenes in the trailer that aren't in the finished film. It's still far from the worst film ever made, and certainly far from the worst in the year it came out (1995 was the year of "Showgirls," "Waterworld," "Species," and "Congo" for openers).

Way too much senseless violence, confusing scripting (from Charlie Fletcher and an uncredited Steven E. deSouza), and frenzied editing for sure, and Cindy's Oscar is unlikely to be coming any time soon - but she's no worse than the rest of the cast (and unlike Steven Berkoff, at least SHE hasn't sunk to doing a Jean Claude Van Damme film since). She's actually pretty good more often than not, and her punches are more convincing than some male actors (though hitting the smuggest of the smug Baldwin brothers provides motivation). Let's just say that the man credited as her acting coach clearly didn't see all his efforts go unrewarded.

And you have to give her and the rest of the cast and crew credit; no one ever pretends that "Fair Game" is anything other than an unpretentious action film, which can't be a bad thing. (But then even Cindy's biggest detractors have never claimed she was pretentious.) While it is mainly for fans of the moled one, it's still short enough not to hurt, and it certainly improves on the last time the Paula Gosling novel it's based on was turned into a film (the truly awful "Cobra" with Sylvester Stallone), and you don't often see films starring lawyer characters doing something other than criminal law. And before you point out that no lawyer ever looked as good as Cindy Crawford, remember that that never stopped Steven Bochco - or David E. Kelley with "Ally McBeal." Now who would you rather be represented in court by, Cindy or Ally?

I don't why "Fair Game" got such a harsh critique. I thought the cast choices were great. Billy Baldwin playing a tough cop, and Cindy Crawford as a lawyer. This movie was action-packed, and a thrill-seeker as well. I liked the train scene when the cop and lawyer got on, and the Caddy sacrificed itself at the pole. Going after the KGB is an extreme task, especially when these agents are extreme themselves. Killing everyone in their path, targeting anyone they first lay eyes on. At first, both Kate(Crawford) and Max(Baldwin) don't get along too well.

But when the rogue KGB starts targeting people, and killing Kate's sister, that's when the two began to trust one another. Some scenes remind me of "The Gauntlet" and "The Joshua Tree". The action of the movie is just right, I don't see what the big deal was. Perhaps when a model decides to go into acting, expect a lot of typecasting in the making. I don't see it that way, Cindy Crawford did fine there. I don't care what the critics say, this movie was fine, not in the theaters, but at home, it's a hit! 3 out of 5 stars!

This movie was perhaps not the most accurate when it comes to effects, cars don't explode when they make contact with stationary objects, but isn't movies some entertainment? The movie caught on quite quickly, no slogging with getting to know characters just some prime action directly.

Cindy isn't perhaps the most capable actress but she is fair to look at. I liked the movie, it tickled some laughs and gave my some entertaining moments. I rate this much higher than a lot of drama that seems to be the only thing people like these days. I might have things go another way if I where to shoot this movie, but the action was good, even though it was predictable sometimes.

i fail to see why this movie has such a low rating on this site(3.7/10).and i also seem to remember critics blasting it.again,i fail to see why.for me,Fair game is an intense,exciting chase movie.so what if it's generic and not that original.to me,it's more about what you do with the material.in this case,the filmmakers made an entertaining movie.it even had some funny one liners.and the stakes in this movie are a bit higher.the bad guys are not your typical bad guys.they're smart and deadly and have no problem killing people.William Baldwin plays Max,a cop who must protect Kate,(Cindy Crawford)a high powered attorney who has angered the wrong people.from this point,the movie is basically a high intensity chase down to the wire.

William Baldwin does a good job,but that's not surprising.Cindy Crawford,not having acted before,did a fine job as well.she was i think the brunt of the criticism of this movie,and undeservedly.there are many actresses out there who are much worse than she is in this film.unfortunately her acting career ended before it began thanks to unfair critics and movie goers.if i were a filmmaker,i would cast her in a film,but then i saw potential where almost nobody else does.but that just shows how shortsighted people are.for me, Fair Game is easily an 8/10

The story line is OK if entertainment is what you are after. There are a lot of holes in continuity and in the graphics. With a small leap of imagination and remembering entertainment is what we are pursuing. this is an enjoyable film........... and deserves Kudos for the pyrotechnics.

CINEMA :Les blessures narcissiques d'une vie par procuration

© DR - FAIR GAME -de Andrew Sipes (1995) p5

Love it or hate it - this is uncompromising action-entertainment!