'Fair Game'

'Fair Game' (PG-13) (3 stars)

Writers: Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth
Based on books "Fair Game" by Valerie Plame and "The Politics of Truth" by Joseph Wilson

Director: Doug Liman
Starring: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Noah Emmerich, Brooke Smith, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Sam Shephard, Polly Holliday, Anand Tiwari, Jessica Hecht

"Fair Game" tells a fascinating story in by the book fashion and it is a good movie. Like last month's "Conviction" though it could have been told on cable but that is okay. The strength of the movie comes from the great performances and the depiction of a strong, married couple fighting for their marriage when it is being tested. The spy stuff we pretty much already know and the movie really kicks into gear when the story comes out. There is too much dull exposition layered out about 15 minutes too long. The true life story deals with the outing of C.I.A. agent Valerie Plame by the government. That outing came about when Valerie's husband, Joe Wilson wrote a New York op-ed piece in the year 2003. Wilson accused the Bush Administration of manipulating intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the war in Iraq. That is when White House Official Scooter Libby outed Valerie who gave Joe the opportunity to help in the case.

Since a lot of people know the story, the spy stuff, the gathering of information and the outing are common knowledge. I was kind of falling asleep during that exposition. The real power and juice of the movie comes after 45 minutes when Valerie and Joe's marriage starts getting tested. We get very upset and angry for what the government did to Valerie and Joe and we feel for them. I won't get into my feelings how the Bush Administration screwed up this country but you do get angry during the movie. Doug Liman does a great job creating suspense with the death threats and treatment that Plame and Wilson get. The performance by Naomi Watts is great and she handles the scenes of anger and hurt very well. She makes us cheer for her and makes us care and feel the outrage. Sean Penn is equally good as Wilson who will stand by his wife. The heart of the movie is how Plame and Wilson's marriage survives a great deal of stress, hurt and anger. Because of Watts and Penn you cheer for them to survive, fight back and get justice. They create a real, effective and married couple who prove that this travesty won't break them individually or together.