Historical accounts in Hollywood tend to exist on a slippery slope. I say this because they often straddle the line between truth and artistic liberty. Of course, there should be a sense of honesty working throughout a film that claims to be based on a true story, but one should also know that a film needs to shed ounces of fact in order to craft a worthy narrative. The fact that there is fiction worked into the truth should come as no surprise, unless of course this occurs in a documentary, then one can throw a fit. Yet, a film’s merits shouldn’t entirely supersede how well it has been crafted. This particular preface brings me to the film Fair Game.
Based off the memoir of the same name, Fair Game tells the tale of Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), a former CIA agent whose identity was released to the public in 2003. As the film indicates, Valerie was an agent who operated with not only a sense of urgency, but also with a humanistic touch. Sure, she was quite aggressive when she dealt with the hunting of terrorists, but there’s a level of restraint and morality in her to allow her to apprehend potential criminals without a threat of violence. The love and care that Valerie possesses is demonstrated in her home life where she balances her busy career as an operative with being a mother and a wife. When it comes to her family and friends, Valerie is living a lie. Aside from her husband Joe (Sean Penn), everyone is under the impression that Valerie is a venture capitalist. In many ways, her life is only a specter reinforced by a classified paper trail. As you can imagine, Valerie’s career, one that sees her dealing with malevolent people and traveling to countries brimming with danger, is often a burden to Joe. He trusts that his wife knows what she’s doing, but there’s a fear in him that hinders his willingness to let her trek around the world in search of terrorists. Director Doug Liman elicits this fear with great execution as he uses it to crack away at the happy home life Joe and Valerie have constructed.
In an attempt to most likely alleviate some of his fears, upon Valerie’s request, Joe travels to Niger to see if the country is funneling uranium to Iraq to make weapons of mass destruction. Joe finds nothing and in his report notes that. Upon the United States’ entry into Iraq circa 2003, it was under the pretense that Iraq was indeed creating weapons of mass destruction as well as the notion that Iraq was receiving uranium from Africa, contrary to Joe’s reports. Angered by the invasion and lack of sufficient evidence, Joe writes a scathing op-ed piece in the New York Times that’s critical of the United States’ invasion. Upon the publishing of Joe’s article, the inner workings of the White House get involved and start up a good ole fashion mud slinging match. The consequences stemming from this war of words hits a crescendo when the White House, through the use of a reporter, leaks Valerie’s identity as a CIA agent. The ramifications of this event knows no bounds. All of Valerie’s agents and missions are put in jeopardy where on the family front, with her identity now known and the public opinion being that Joe is a liar, Valerie receives death threats directed at her and her children. What we have is a traitorous act that is uneven in every way. It’s in this political battle that the film gains its most traction.
Based around the deconstruction of Valerie’s career and private life, Naomi Watts delivers a tremendous performance that is steeped in emotion and honesty. Although we can never truly understand the weight that is bestowed upon the shoulders of a CIA agent, Watts does her best to make us feel the burden that makes her knees buckle. Amidst the emotional turmoil, Watts is also able to slowly craft her character’s assertiveness as the media’s lights begin to burn their brightest. Where Watt’s character is analytical and rather rational in her battles, Penn’s vision of Joe is one made up of undeniable pride and determination to set the record straight by any means necessary. In some fashion, Penn is perfect to play Joe considering his penchant for politicking with great passion. Regardless of Penn’s personal life, his demonstration of Joe’s zeal is understood from the underlying fear he has for his marriage. Although the film is ultimately about Valerie’s credibility and shot at redemption, its driving force is the emotional connection held between Joe and Valerie, and I must say that Penn and Watts do a tremendous job of capturing a marriage that’s being picked apart by vultures. Given the history these two have had in regards to acting, great performances are almost a guarantee.
But, what isn’t a guarantee is the direction of Doug Liman. Being best known for introducing film goers to Jason Bourne, Liman is a man who has been on an action roll as of late. So, seeing him dip his hand into the political thriller genre is a bit of a surprise, but it’s a surprise that sees him recapture the cerebral warfare he siphoned out of The Bourne Identity. Through the use of kept secrets and political informants, Liman constructs a web of intrigue that unapologetically points its finger in the direction of a corrupt political system. Running ahead at full steam, Liman is able to take a dialogue driven film and gives it an urgency that is ultimately pressing in the same way that an action film is. Not to mention, Liman’s ability to highlight the family conflict, while still maintaining Valerie and Joe’s dissenting voice in the direction of White House is admirable. Certainly Liman could’ve formed a better segue between these two strands at times, but he’s able to find a mold that keeps them bonded. The question that will probably haunt the film, as well as its source material, is the question of factual accuracy and truth. As is with most things in life, there are many forms of truth. We will never know the entire story beyond the Plame’s battles, but that shouldn’t matter here. Fact, fiction or something in between, Fair Game is a well crafted film that demonstrates the pratfalls of a public battle. Yet, it also evokes a sense of patriotism that begs for us not to take shit.
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