MOVIE REVIEW: Fair Game (2010)

Being a relatively carefree freshman in high school, the Valerie Plame exposure scandal was something that understandably flew under my radar. Years later, I first became interested in the circumstances surrounding her illegal outing as a CIA agent after reading Scott McClellan stellar exposé What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception, which dealt in detail the discovery of "Plamegate" from the perspective of President Bush's White House Press Secretary. Fair Game is a film based on a book by the same name by Plame, which re-tells the events leading up to and culminating in the scandal that cost Plame her job, privacy, and dignity. It's an incredible story for sure, and the film does adequate justice in outlining an interesting milestone in government corruption.

For those of you not immediately familiar with the story, Valerie Plame is (technically, was) a CIA operative who was frequently called upon for covert operations, in part, due to her background in international relations. After uncovering contradictory data relating to "yellowcake" and the lack of existing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, to which her husband, former US Ambassador Joseph Wilson, writes an incriminating New York Times op-ed piece. The Bush Administration gets wind of this story, and under the supervision of advisors Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, expose Plame as a CIA operative, in an effort to discredit her husband's story. Seeking retribution, Wilson takes the battle to the mainstream media, but conflicts with his wife's interests, whose moral sense of duty restrains her from vocalizing her inner torment.

Fair Game is an interesting political drama, that as a drama in the most intrinsic sense, brings a very palpable mood to the story, thanks to the tight script and excellent performances by Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. Penn is actually a standout as Wilson, given Penn's own political leanings, he's practically born to play this role, as he channels his trademark rage against the Bush Administration in the form of his character. The beginning first act, consisting of Plame's investigation and day-in-day-out life as a spy is very expository; interesting, but not as gripping as the film's later acts when the scandal occurs and comes to a head. Director Doug Liman does inject some moments of melodrama towards the end, but they're not maudlin, and remind us that these real-life characters are human, and do have moments of weakness and fear that we may otherwise not realize. Otherwise, this is solid political storytelling, all around.

8/10

Peace,
- Jon