Fair Game [2010]

“Fair Game” is an interesting political thriller about events leading up  to the Iraq war of 2003 that dramatizes the Bush administration’s eagerness to convince Americans and the world that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that were a threat to national security in the U.S. The film, though partly fictionalized, points to many real events and even uses the actual names of the participants involved. Naomi Watts gives a solid performance as Valerie Palm, a CIA officer who mainly worked udercover. Her husband, Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), is a career diplomat who is asked to investigate a claim that Iraq is seeking to acquire yellow cake from Niger in order to produce Uranium. He disovers that the claim is false and writes his report. The White House, determined to prove that Saddam Hussein is in fact a threat to the world, goes ahead and say that the Niger claim is true anyway. Things get tricky when Joe decides to publicly challenge Bush’s claim and put his own family at risk.

Although you may feel that you’ve had enough of political thrillers dealing with the Iraq war, “Fair Game” is still worth watching for its two powehouse performances. Watts and Penn are both terrific, and even if I wasn’t completely satisfied with the end result, I would still recommend it because it still succeeds in delivering a strong and effective political message. The film’s main flaw however is its somewhat weak opening act; I liked the second half a lot, but it was only after I had to suffer through a very slow first half. The story does take a little while to hook the viewer, but once it does, it never lets go.

Rating: 2.5/4