Doug Liman, who directed “The Bourne Identity,” certainly knows how to craft a spy thriller. The director assembled a sterling cast, headed by Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, for his excellent new political thriller “Fair Game.”
The film is based on the 2003 outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame by a member of the Bush administration after her husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson, was publicly critical of faulty intelligence being used to win public support for invading Iraq. Several CIA operations were compromised and people died after Plame’s true identity was leaked to a newspaper. Although Bush official Scooter Libby was convicted and served time, many thought that other higher-ups in the Bush administration were involved.
But “Fair Game” is less about all that than the enormous pressure applied by the government to silence one man, in the discussion in the run-up to war. Although the focus is on the personal story, the subject may deter film-goers who remain Bush supporters.
To neighbors and friends, Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) and his wife Valerie Plame Wilson (Naomi Watts) are ordinary people in affluent Georgetown, although Valerie travels a lot for her work. Valerie’s family, of course, knows she works for the CIA but little else about her work.
Shortly after 9/11, the CIA is tasked with investigating whether Iraq has nuclear weapons capabilities. One intelligence tip they are trying to verify is a claim that someone in the African nation of Niger sold uranium to Iraq. Analyst Plame suggests her husband, who knows the country well from his diplomatic work, as someone who could travel there to find out.
The intelligence turns out to be false, as is duly reported. Yet the claim kept turning up in administration members’ speeches. Frustrated, Wilson writes an op-ed piece for a newspaper, detailing what he really found in Niger. His actions, done without consulting his wife, put a strain on their marriage. When Wilson refuses to stop talking, members of the administration decide his wife is “fair game” in an effort to silence him.
The topic makes for a searing political thriller and cautionary tale about government wrath. The film features fiery emotional scenes and Limon brings the same dynamic camera work and visual energy to this film that he employed in the Bourne film.
The acting is superb, particularly in scenes depicting what the pressures are doing to the couple’s marriage. Naomi Watts turns in a multi-layered performance as this strong woman who knows how to keep a secret. Penn’s Wilson is more emotional and out-going, a man who can hardly keep his opinions to himself at gatherings with friends. The real dynamic of the film is between these two. The situation opens up tensions between these differing personalities. Watts and Penn bring sparks to this clash, in several searing scenes.
The film’s real focus is on the personal costs of speaking up against government. Governments are powerful and the Founding Fathers understood that free speech is one of the strongest tools we the people have to control government power.
Not every film need be empty entertainment – some of us relish a thought-provoking film. The standard wisdom says movies about political scandals do not influence elections but still one has to wish that some recent films about political monkey business, like “Inside Job,” “Casino Jack” and “Fair Game,” had come out before, rather than after, the recent midterm election. If nothing else, maybe we would have been reminded about the behavior of the previous administration. Revisiting this outrageous incident certainly makes for excellent cinema.