Pulsating Drama, Appropriate Time
10/10
Author: gradyharp from United States
1 April 2011
FAIR GAME serves several purposes; it is a thriller of a suspense movie that entertains, it addresses one of the most controversial aspects of American military action in years, and it dares to open the secret doors of the Bush Administration. Based on the book 'The Politics of Truth' by Joseph Wilson the film has been summarized as follows:
'Joseph Charles Wilson IV (born November 6, 1949) is a former United States diplomat best known for his 2002 trip to Niger to investigate allegations that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase yellowcake uranium; 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 been transformed into a bitingly vital screenplay by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth and the film is searingly directed by Doug Liman.
Why the film didn't enjoy a better success in the theaters is likely due to the still festering difference of opinion as to the pre-emptive war on Iraq, a war declared because of the 'evidence' that Iraq had Weapons of Mass destruction that is now approaching 10 years in activity despite the embarrassingly early declaration by that the war had been 'won' soon after declaration. What FAIR GAME offers is Wilson's defense of his wife Valerie Plame's role in the CIA and how the government dealt with the cover-up and smoke screen and other shenanigans by Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and other White House officials who revealed Plame's status as a CIA agent and were 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.
The actors are consistently superb throughout the large cast - Naomi Watts as Valerie Plame, Sean Penn as Joe Wilson, Bruce McGill as Jim Pavitt, Adam LeFevre as Karl Rove, David Andrews as Scooter Libby - and the many film clips of President Bush's televised speeches and statements from VP Dick Cheney et al add credence to the atmosphere. It is a film about the value of truth and as such it makes us all think more carefully about our current further involvement in the many battles 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 film that challenges his students to always defend democracy - the legacy of our Founding Fathers - and it is this speech that is the most compelling writing in the film. A fine cast delivers a compelling film and it is a film all Americans should see.
Grady Harp
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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
A Gripping Spy Movie That Needs To Be Told
10/10
Author: Intern2014 from United States
26 September 2012
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Fair Game is a biographical drama directed that features Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.It is based on Valerie Plame's memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House and Joseph C. Wilson's memoir "The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir".The Bourne Identity director Doug Liman teams with screenwriters Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth to streamline Joseph Wilson's and Valerie Plame's books detailing the explosive outing of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame into a tense film.
At the time her cover was blown by the George W. Bush administration, Valerie Plame was combing Iraq for evidence of weapons of mass destruction as part of the CIA's Counter-Proliferation Division. Her husband, American diplomat Joe Wilson was attempting to verify a claim that the Iraqis had recently purchased enriched uranium from Niger when the White House began calling for war against Iraq before any solid evidence had been gathered.
When Joe penned an editorial in The New York Times decrying the hasty call to war, a prolific Washington, D.C. journalist took the opportunity to reveal her identity as a CIA operative, an act that not only put her career in jeopardy, but also left her various contacts overseas in a precarious position. Years later, she was jobless and publicly disgraced as she wages a vicious fight to clear her name, set the record straight, and keep her family from falling apart.
Crackling with sharp dialogue, gripping intrigue and heart-pounding suspense, Fair Game is the adventure that's so unbelievable, it can only be real.Despite the fact that it It struggles with the balance between fact-based biopic and taut political thriller, it brims with righteous anger due to the brutal and personal testimony to the consequences of dirty politics that it often feels too ugly to be true.Also,it benefits from superb performances by its lead stars - Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. Overall,it is a gripping spy movie wherein the account of the double- dealing of the Bush White House in the run-up to the US invasion of Iraq feels necessary.
