Beat the Bush Administration

Here is what happened: the United States government decided to invade Iraq for possessing dangerous weapons supplied by the African nation of Niger. An American international consultant was asked to gather sufficient evidence from Africa to prove that Iraq was in fact buying these weapons. He found none, and wrote a report that said exactly that. So when he realised that his very clear report was completely ignored and The White House went to war anyway, he wrote another article, this time to The New York Times, about the invalidity of the American invasion. Ill-advised of course, but his conscience didn’t allow him to just look the other way.

Is this a win for him, and the constitution of free speech? Hardly, since on the next day, his wife is outed as a CIA spy in a national newspaper – as retribution for speaking out against The White House. This scandal, which caused quite a stir, is the “Valerie Plame affair” in which Ms. Plame (Naomi Watts), an active covert CIA agent mainly working in the Middle East with crucial informants, was publicly identified, as a result of her husband Joe Wilson’s (Sean Penn) controversial editorial piece, titled “What I Didn’t Find in Africa.” Soon after the publication of Plame’s real identity, their world comes crashing down. Several media outlets start spinning this story in the most imaginative ways, and the couple is branded as being traitors of America. “Not supporting the troops,” a popular saying used by right-wing Bush supporters to criticise anyone who has anything to say against the war, is also in full use here.

It may come across as a touch too self-involved, showing the trials of how one family struggles back in their comfortable house, whilst so many soldiers are dying. Plame’s confidential informants are in danger as they are left out in the open. We hear the news of how a lot of them have been assassinated as a consequence of her being outed: but none of this is shown to any memorable level, and is scarcely mentioned in passing.

This story was covered extensively in the international media and for that, the film loses the element of surprise, but under the steady hands of Doug Liman, the director of The Bourne Identity, he makes sure there are characters for us to relate to. Plame may be an agent who travels around the globe, but to balance everything out, she has a loving family and a domestic life for her to get back to. Watts shows these two contrasting sides well.

Fair Game has that odd but watchable mix of an inspiring biopic and politics. A lot of careful explanation is given as to bring everyone up to date with the Valerie Plame case and the film is more than successful at stirring up a strong, lasting feeling of discomfort and rage towards the government, people of high authority, and abuse of power. It’s clear where the lead characters stand – they’re not unpatriotic. She was a spy, and he used to be an ambassador. They were trying their best to serve their country until an unfortunate screw-up somewhere in between all the hushed conversations ruined everything. They are the victims here, and Liman lets us know it. Dealing with a subject that is still painfully relevant today, it’s an admirable effort to get the story out there.

Watts and Penn, paired up here for the third time, showcase strong performances once more. Penn has less to do, and his character is less well drawn than Watts. He is the angry, betrayed citizen who is being hounded by those around him for doing the right thing. Undoubtedly though, the star here is Watts whose subtle performance, grasping the frustration and fear that surround the challenges she needs to face, is more than enough to carry the film all on her own.

It’s not a 100% unbiased effort. Some of the villains are almost written to the level of caricature, and if you want a broader scope on the Plame scandal you would be better off reading about the whole thing on Wikipedia. But what articles won’t tell you is how the incident affected Plame on a personal level. Don’t be mistaken into thinking this is a political spy-thriller – the trailer wrongly oversells on this point. But it’s a promising, touching family drama with some good old-fashioned Bush-Administration-bashing.