Star cast: Sean Penn, Naomi Watts.
Advertisement
Plot: Former diplomat Sean Penn and his wife, CIA’s undercover agent, Naomi Watts, find themselves at the receiving end of a propaganda war when they decide to expose the truth behind the US invasion of Iraq. Their marriage starts to fall apart when Naomi’s cover is blown.
Advertisement
What’s Bad: By staying too true to reality (the film is based on a true story), the story alienates a section of the audience that will not understand the film.
Verdict: Fair Game is an excellent docu-drama, it entertains to the hilt, but only if you are interested and know the subject matter.
Loo Break: None.
Watch or Not?: Catch it for sure, if you aren’t bothered about the commercial prospects. The film is fair game!
River Road Entertainment and Participant Media’s Fair Game is based on the true-life story of a female CIA agent and her diplomat-husband, who where in the thick of things during the build-up to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks and lots of war-mongering by the Bush administration.
Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) is an accomplished undercover CIA agent working in the counter-proliferation unit. She globe-trots under the guise of being an employee of a venture capital fund, but, in reality, executes different covert projects for the CIA. Back home, in the US, is Valerie’s husband and former diplomat, Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), and their children. With Valerie hardly at home, Joe takes care of the kids and runs a business. However, he is a principled fellow and cannot take any loose talk about geopolitics. Valerie, on the other hand, leads a dual life – risky missions and intelligence decisions on one side and a normal social life and friends on the other. Only Joe, and Valerie’s parents know about Valerie’s real occupation.
With President George W. Bush’s administration pushing up the rhetoric on Iraq in the US and in the UN General Assembly, all talk in the US is about possible weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). As head of the Joint Task Force on Iraq, Valerie is responsible for determining whether or not Saddam Hussain’s regime was developing weapons of mass destruction. To gather intelligence from Iraqi scientists who were members of the nation’s nuclear weapons program, she gets in touch with Dr. Zahraa (Liraz Charhi), a US-based Iraqi citizen, whose brother is a nuclear scientist in Iraq. With Valerie’s help, Dr. Zahraa goes to Iraq but the latter’s brother asserts that the whole of Iraq’s nuclear program was destroyed in the First Gulf War in 1991 and that Iraq has no fissile material to speak of.
Valerie passes this intelligence to her seniors who are being pressured by the vice president’s office to accept the opinion of one dissenting analyst, who claims to have evidence of a secret transfer of fissile uranium from Niger in Africa to the Iraqi regime. In 2002, at Valerie’s recommendation, the CIA sends Joe Wilson, former US ambassador to Niger, to the said country to investigate if Niger had supplied enriched uranium to Iraq. After a visit to Niger, Wilson reports back to the CIA that the said deal never took place. Wilson’s report is disregarded as officials of the Bush administration go on television stating the Iraq had nuclear ambitions and that they had evidence of the same. On 28th January 2003, President Bush, in his State of the Union address, says that the then UK government had evidence that Saddam had sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Finally, the US goes to war with Iraq in March 2003.
Incensed at the US administration’s blatant lies, Joe Wilson writes an Op-Ed piece in The New York Times, titled, ‘What I Did Find In Africa’ and calls the government’s bluff. A few press conferences, talks and television shows later, an article in the Washington Post reveals the identity of Valerie Plame as a CIA agent. She is immediately sacked, all her on-going projects are annulled and her agency colleagues refuse to talk to her. She is hounded by the press and called a ‘third rate agent’. Valerie is shaken and leaves Wilson for the time being as their relations become strained after another scoop which rubbishes Wilson’s reputation. But Wilson decides to continue the single-handed fight against the White House. Will Wilson win the battle for the truth? Will Valerie be able to turn her life around?
Script and Screenplay
The screenplay of Fair Game (written by Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth) – based on Valerie Plame’s autobiography, Fair Game – is a masterpiece. It not only tells well a true story of great valour and courage in the face of adversities, but also manages to entertain the audience. The screenplay has it all – drama, emotions and action – yet, it successfully comes across as the portrayal of truth. The narration uses a lot of archival footage but it is done so well that one hardly notices the differences. The drama seems real and so do most of the characters, well-etched out as they are.
Star Performances
Naomi Watts’ performance is very good. And while this might not be Sean Penn’s best performance, he shines. Liraz Charhi and David Andrews, as Scooter Libby, do well. Indian actor Anand Tiwari excels in the small role of a Malaysian citizen. Joseph Middleton’s casting is good.
Direction and Editing
Director Doug Liman does a fine job, maintaining a fine balance between the story of Valerie and Wilson, and the larger picture, the inner machinations of the US administration. A few scenes stay with the audience – Sean Penn’s emotional outburst and Naomi Watts’ climactic testimony. John Powell’s background score and Liman’s edgy camerawork complement the narrative style. Film editing by Christopher Tellefsen is crisp.
The Last Word
On the whole, Fair Game is a well-made film and an entertaining historical expose, something that tells us how big government and big money work, but it has limited appeal and will not be easily understood by the laymen. At the Indian box-office, it doesn’t stand much of a chance.
Advertisement
