Fair Game

Director Doug Liman's (The Bourne Identity) return to the field of spy movies couldn't be further from the world of Bond and Bourne. There's very little in the way of running, shooting and blowing stuff up. Instead this is the true story of former CIA operative Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) whose identity was exposed to the press by those inside the White House after her husband, former US ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) wrote an article detailing why some of George W's claims in justifying the invasion of Iraq couldn't be true.

There are obvious strengths and problems just from that set-up. With Watts and Penn in the leads, you get the strong, committed performances that you might expect. You also get, given Penn's involvement and the subject matter a fair deal of speechifying on true American democracy, etc... However, one of the main problems with the subject (as with last year's Green Zone) is that we all know how its going to turn out - that there were no WMDs, that the White House did exaggerate and push things in its justifications.

It still manages to be thought-provoking through a few effective scenes - the bullying and manipulation of CIA analysts by White House staff until they got the answers they wanted and the callousness with which the CIA itself abandoned Plame's Iraqi contacts to be killed by the Israelis once her cover was blown. This last point is particularly telling, as in a war against terrorism intelligence has got to be key and the attitudes of the americans in both ignoring the intelligence they got and betraying their sources must ultimately prove hugely counter-productive.

However, the film's most moving and strongest moments actually come away from the political arena in the relationship between Plame and Wilson, the strains events and their differing reactions put upon that and their ultimate strength.

Overall - 7.5/10 The material feels slightly too familiar by now, but strong performances and confident handling of the elements will keep you watching.