Fair Game: A spy thriller story of our times

Written by Jonathan Schumann, Reel Son
Thursday, 09 December 2010 12:43

Since 1999, this column has offered the latest on new films in theaters as well as recent releases and classics available on DVD. This week, the “Reel Son” reviews a new release available in theaters, Fair Game, starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts.

Director Doug Liman revisits the political thrillers of the 1970s with Fair Game, a skillful and gripping recounting of the Valerie Plame story.

As we all know now, Plame was a covert CIA agent who was outed by officials in the Bush Administration after her husband, former U.S. ambassador Joe Wilson, wrote a scathing New York Times op-ed that accused the administration of falsifying the intelligence that sent the United States to war in Iraq.

In Liman’s interpretation of these events, there’s no room for ambiguity or vagueness. He accepts the truths that Wilson and Plame set forth in their respective memoirs and debunks many of the accusations the Bush administration used to discredit the couple in the press. Setting aside what could have been a rather dry and pedantic exploration of political ideology in the Bush era, Liman instead crafts an intelligent espionage thriller that harkens back to Three Days of the Condor and All the President’s Men.

As much as Fair Game is a story about our times — how calculated deception led to a war that we still fight today — at its core this is the story pf a woman who nearly unravels when her world turns upside down. The film’s first scenes firmly establish Plame (Naomi Watts) as a covert CIA agent who engages in dangerous covert missions abroad. When her name is leaked, her career, reputation, and marriage nearly fall apart. By making this overtly political subject matter ultimately personal, Liman creates a thrilling, heartbreaking portrait of a woman under a great deal of personal and professional stress.

Watts has seldom been used to such striking effect. Since her breakthrough performance in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, she has been the emotional anchor in Peter Jackson’s otherwise bloated King Kong, a histrionic grieving widow in the often overwrought 21 Grams, or the hollow audience substitute in any number of forgettable titles (consider Eastern Promises, The International, and the list goes on). The cryptic role of Plame — a woman whose life is so riddled with contradiction and secrecy that truth is difficult to detect — is perfectly suited to Watts’ talents. Plame’s covert status demands that Watts err on the side of subtlety and underplay any potential emotional outburst.

Watts’ nuanced stoicism is highlighted by Sean Penn’s predictably explosive and outsized portrayal of Wilson, Plame’s volcanic and deeply committed husband. The two are an unlikely duo — she’s a shadowy presence who can’t speak about her life and he wears his political ideology on his sleeve. It makes for a fascinating portrayal of a marriage in crisis. And gives us a compelling view of what can lead a nation to war.

5 Popcorn Buckets

Video Pick

Looking for something to rent? Here is a suggestion inspired by Fair Game:

All the President’s Men: The gold standard for political thrillers, Alan J. Pakula’s film gamely captures how Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein blew the lid off the Watergate scandal. Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford boast impressive performances as the intrepid reporters while Jason Robards — in an Oscar-winning turn — and Jane Alexander shine in supporting roles.