Fair Game (2010)

I was only vaguely familiar with the story of Valerie Plame, a former covert CIA agent who was outed to the media after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, publicly criticized the reasoning behind the Iraq War. It's an interesting story but not one that makes an overly thrilling movie experience.

Fair Game is another in a long line of Hollywood political movies and even though it was billed as a thriller, Fair Game is really a character study. There are thriller elements throughout the film but they are never actually thrilling. The best part of the movie comes from the work of Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. Both give very convincing performances as a couple on differing sides of the political game (one very public and one very private) but each with a lot to lose. The two have a very good chemistry together and seeing their reactions to what is happening around them is the best part of Fair Game.

While the character portions of the film work very well, director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Swingers) struggles to keep tension at a consistent high. There's just no real payoff to any of the plot developments and the depiction of various Bush administration wrongdoings has been done before and done better. There is never any real sense of danger associated with the film even though the characters should theoretically have a lot to lose.

Even with the lack of tension and thrills, Fair Game is far from a bad movie. The story of Valerie Plame itself is worth knowing and though I'm sure the film takes liberty's, it's still a decent enough way to spend a couple hours.

Rating: 3.5