In the filmography of liberal-skewing, Bush-era true stories, this is a measured, persuasive item. It's questionable whether there's an appetite for hanging out more of the last decade's dirty laundry to dry in the multiplexes or 'For Your Consideration' awards bids, though.
Liman juggles political intrigue with low-key domestic drama to polished, largely riveting effect. Great star turns, too.
Fair Game is slightly derailed by Jez and John Butterworth’s tonally schizophrenic screenplay, which lurches from slick secret service speak to big emotive speeches that underline just how far Penn’s Wilson will go for the woman and children he loves.
Fair Game claims to be based on a true story but it is merely a one-dimensional facsimile.
Reality disguised as improbable thriller fiction.
Though the points are made early on, the scenes go on and on. Someone was clearly getting a big kick out of things, but after a certain point it definitely wasn’t me.
It has to be the most ridiculous movie of the year.
Fair Game is consistently engaging and interesting, there’s no escaping the feeling that it’s just a bit safe.
With a bit more shaping, all the ingredients are here for a cracking thriller about the woman who knew too much, something like The Parallax View for the post-9/11 age. Instead, it’s sober, talky, and rather muted.
Watts, as the self-possessed Plame, is the best reason to see the film.
We know the case for war was a sham yet by the time Joe invokes Benjamin Franklin in a Big Speech at the end your senses have been battered into indifference.
In the end, it's an espionage thriller minus heroes who can hit the bad guys where it hurts - not so much The Bourne Identity as The Bourne Futility.
Fair Game may not be a home run but it’s very satisfying, grown-up entertainment.
A flawed conspiracy.
It's a David and Goliath tale in which Goliath is never seen.
Although the outline of this story is well known, Fair Game gives it dramatic shape and teases out the moral problems raised...a riveting thriller.
Fair Game revisits the George W Bush years but is it too soon?
Fair Game: Free Agents
No fair play for writers of Fair Game film about CIA officer Valerie Plame
Interview: Valerie Plame, former CIA agent
General release. Check local listings for show times.
RSS feed of Cinema reviews