Fair Game (2010)

Directed by: Doug Liman | 104 minutes | thriller | Actors: Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Noah Emmerich, Ty Burrell, Sam Shepard, Bruce McGill, Brooke Smith, David Denman, Michael Kelly, Iris Bahr, Satya Bhabha, David Andrews, Sunil Malhotra, Khaled Nabawy, Louis Ozawa Changchien

The American feature film ‘Fair Game’ is a thriller-like drama set during the run-up to the Iraq war. The film tells the true story of married couple Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson. When former diplomat Joe reported the Bush Jr. administration in a newspaper article. accused of lying, the president’s associates reveal that Valerie is working as an undercover agent for the CIA. From that moment on, Joe and Valerie’s lives and marriage are in danger.

This interesting premise does not lead to a successful film. The Bush Jr administration’s crooks. are fascinating as always, but they do not surprise. The screenwriters did succeed in conveying the complex subject matter crystal clear. This clarity and the use of archival material give the story an authenticity and tension, even if the outcome is known for a long time.

The human drama is less successful. The viewer does not manage to get under the skin of Joe and Valerie Wilson, so that they remain sketchy and not too sympathetic characters. Valerie is a cool frog, Joe is a worn-out diplomat with no spark of zest for life. The fact that the two stand for the good cause does not immediately make their characters sympathetic or their marital troubles distressing. The story element with the highest drama potential (about a refugee Iraqi doctor and her family residing in Baghdad) is rushed by the makers.

Cinematographically, the film is not a success either. It is noticeable that director Liman mainly made action thrillers before this. Although ‘Fair Game’ is mainly set in high political circles, the nervous camera work and the wrought-up music suggest that we are in the middle of an action thriller. You always expect Jason Bourne to run into the picture to save the day.

The choice to dramatize the adventures of the Wilson family therefore turns out to be wrong. The facts are interesting enough but would do better in a documentary. At the most, this film contains an interesting lesson for future leaders: if you lie, do it right!