FAIR GAME Review (2 out of 5 stars)

A cold and lifeless retelling of a riveting national scandal.

Director Doug Liman’s past work includes such noteworthy gems as THE BOURNE IDENTITY, GO and SWINGERS, which is why I found it perplexing he created such a cold and often lifeless experience in FAIR GAME. Given the film’s historic potential to shine light on a relatively recent scandal with life-and-death implications, the final result is a particular disappointment, washed out in somber grays. 

FAIR GAME’s official synopsis mislabels itself as an action thriller. There’s not much action in the traditional sense. But more importantly, the inherent psychological suspense of the events that took place isn’t fully exploited. The movie is based on the true story of former CIA spy Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), whose career was destroyed by a White House smear campaign. She’s outed as a spy as retaliation for a New York Times editorial by her diplomat husband Joe Wilson (Sean Penn). In the editorial Wilson disputed George W. Bush’s State Of the Union declaration that Saddam Hussein sought from Niger yellowcake uranium, used to make nuclear weapons. It’s also hinted - though in reality never proven – that Karl Rove was personally involved in Plame’s exposure; the film’s title is what Rove supposedly labeled Plame once he and his cohorts set their sights on her and Wilson, a quote still shocking for its callousness.

Perhaps creating a genuinely exciting film based on these events is easier said than done? Then again, if it’s possible to make a thrilling flick out of Facebook’s creation, the Plame scandal should have been cake. (Yellow cake? Okay, bad joke.) The biggest problem I have with FAIR GAME is how miscast the otherwise multi-talented Sean Penn is – his version of Wilson is self-serious, lethargic and morose – and that’s even before the scandal that engulfed his family began brewing. While the real-life Joe Wilson comes across in TV appearances as a dashing figure, Penn's interpretation is so frumpy you have to wonder how he scored the beautiful and highly intelligent Plame. Is Wilson really as much of a bore as the film suggests? Penn also lowered his voice for the role in an odd way -- I kept wanting him to speak up.

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