Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Fair Game Blu-ray Movie Review

A good movie that could have been better.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 12, 2011

We've got to fight this.

The Bourne Identity Director Doug Liman repositions his lens from the stories of a fictional spy to the life of a real one, the ousted CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson. In this case, truth doesn't make for better fiction; Fair Game is a fair movie, one without much style or energy but instead packed with plenty of intrigue and human emotion to spare. Based around the real-life events of Wilson's leaked identity after her husband's writing of an editorial piece claiming that the White House falsified intelligence leading up to the Iraq War, Liman's film dramatizes a widely-known story that plays with a bit more amplified drama in its fictionalized retelling than it did during the real story's run as headline news years ago. Fair Game also creates a bubble of fascinating gamesmanship between two sides -- though one is more heavily represented than the other -- in the war of words that is alone enough to pull audiences into the fray, but even then the story doesn't necessarily lend itself to a great movie. Liman and his strong cast do what they can with the material, but Fair Game plays with a deficiency of balance -- the first half seems a bit underdeveloped, the second half a little too overplayed -- that keeps the picture from excelling beyond the norms of the Political Thriller.

The leak.

In the days and months following the attacks of September 11, Washington scrambled for intelligence that might thwart another, similar attack or, worse yet, something even more horrific. Former Ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn, All the King's Men) is questioned as to the validity of a report that then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein purchased Yellow Cake uranium from the African nation of Niger. Meanwhile, his wife, a CIA operative named Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts, The International), questions whether a recent shipment of tubes into Saddam's Iraq are destined to be used for enriching uranium. Both Wilson and Plame believe the intelligence they're analyzing to be false, that Saddam is not, at least with these materials, actively pursuing the creation of weapons of mass destruction. Their arguments fall on deaf ears, however, and the United States launches massive attacks on Iraq. Some time later, Joe Wilson -- who still believes that Saddam did not purchase Yellow Cake from Niger -- pens an opinion piece that calls out the administration for falsifying and exaggerating intelligence to support the invasion of Iraq. In response, the White House -- under the auspicies of the Vice President's Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby (David Andrews) -- leaks Plame's identity as a CIA operative. With lives shattered, covers blown, and a nation at war -- perhaps due to faulty or manipulated intelligence -- Joe Wilson goes on the offesnsive to protect his family's name and call out those he deems responsible for leading the nation into what be believes to be an unjust war.

Fair Game moves far too quickly through what structurally plays as little more than an opening salvo of "does Saddam have the capability to produce weapons of mass destruction" to the start of the War. It's a fairly detailed account but one that could be more thoroughly so, and the film would have benefited from a more precise examination of the events leading up to the war and the people who played a part in them, which in turn might have amplified the events that followed. The second half of the film focuses almost exclusively on Valerie Plame's and Joe Wilson's side of the story; Fair Game does give play to both sides, looking at both Wilson's and Plame's involvement with and opposition to facts as presented by the White House and, in counter, the Administration's view that the evidence did indeed point to the now-ousted and deceased dictator's ability to produce the deadly weapons. Fair Game's bread-and-butter, though, is the aftermath of Wilson's editorial and his wife's subsequent outing; Liman focuses on the personal and political drama that swirls around the couple but only marginally includes the White House and press perspectives following the tit-for-tat war of words between the opposing parties, and even then, usually, only through Plame's and Wilson's point-of-view. The film could have benefited from a little more background beyond what's included and a little more insight from the opposing side; Fair Game certainly doesn't gloss over any critical details -- or at least it doesn't appear to -- nor does it completely ignore the White House perspective, but the latter certainly plays a distant second fiddle to the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson personal and political drama and side of the story. In all fairness, it's their story, shaped by their events, and the film is based on Plame's own memoirs; it's no surprise, then, that the film leans heavily in their direction.

Aside from its recounting of the scandal, what else does Fair Game have to offer? It's not a traditionally entertaining picture in the same vein as something like Liman's own The Bourne Identity; it's lacking in physical action, instead built around a dramatization of personal and political happenings where the action takes place on the battlefield of the mind rather than through the barrel of the gun. Liman does a fine job of maintaining a level of tension and intrigue throughout, even considering that many viewers will be familiar with how the story is ultimately going to play out, whether such facts as Plame's ousting or the fate of Scooter Libby, who plays a fairly prominent role in the film not in terms of screen time but in driving the plot towards its conclusion. Liman's direction is smooth and very slick; the nature of the film doesn't allow him to do much in terms of heavy stylization, but his is an effective direction that allows the story to play out as his actors carry the brunt of the load. As expected from two top actors, Sean Penn and Naomi Watts play their parts quite well, sinking completely into them and giving their characters a realistic façade, a critical factor in Character Drama based on real-life people and events. The supporting cast, too, is excellent, and the picture proves capable in its inclusion of archival news footage and recreations of various worldwide locales, from the streets of Niger to the middle of Baghdad while under attack from the air.

Fair Game Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Fair Game arrives on Blu-ray from Summit Entertainment with a 1080p transfer of high standards, limited, it seems, only be the quality of the HD video source. Some light banding may be seen from time to time and a few shots go slightly soft, but this is otherwise a solid high-def image that captures colors and details nicely. The film's color palette is neutral with no unnatural warmness or any intentional desaturation. Whether flat grays and blues or a few splashes of a more lively shade, Summit's transfer handles every color in the film with ease. Fine details are quite good, too, the image showing no problems in revealing facial and clothing details to an accurate and satisfying level. Even the faint leftover marks on a dry erase board in one scene are clearly visible. The source is clean but a bit flat by nature, blacks are excellent, and noise is minimal. Summit continues to impress with high quality Blu-ray offerings; Fair Game is no exception.

Fair Game Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For what amounts to a character-driven Thriller, Fair Game manages a high-powered track worthy of a much more potent Action film. The track delivers energized music that flows from every speaker and keeps up a precise level of clarity and detail even at an aggressive volume. Music invigorates the entire soundstage at several junctures, giving the film in those instances a big, exciting feel. The track also delivers a wealth of perfectly-balanced and natural atmospherics, whether general office clatter or the background ambience at a noisy bar. The only drawback is that dialogue seems a bit low in comparison during such sequences, challenging the listener to sort out the spoken word from some of the more aggressive elements. A few gunshots are of a nicely potent feel, and the Iraq bombing sequence brings with it a devastating and hard-hitting feel; the action transitions to the inside of a building where the distant booms and the general low rumbling and clatter creates a frightening, almost surreal experience. Other than that sometimes hard-to-hear dialogue, this track is darn near perfect; it's another winner from Summit.

Fair Game Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Fair Game features only one extra, but it's a good one: an audio commentary track with the real Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson. It's incredibly interesting to listen to the film's real-life counterparts speaking during a fictionalized account of their lives. It makes for a great listen and a welcome diversion from the general sort of technical commentary track that's so common these days. They are happy with the results -- the performances of the leads, the film's ability to tell their story -- and despite a few stretches of silence this proves to be a worthwhile commentary track.

Fair Game Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fair Game delivers an engaging recounting of the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson saga that electrified headlines around the world only a few short years ago. The picture could use a little more fleshing out, but Doug Liman does a fair job of balancing the need to give play to all of the critical elements while keeping up the pace and runtime necessary to make the movie work. Naomi Watts and Sean Penn deliver electric performances in the lead roles, effectively becoming the characters they portray and never coming across as "actors" reinterpreting an event. Fair Game could have been a more complete picture, but as it stands, it's a well-made and watchable Thriller that manages to keep one's attention even when it holds no real secrets up its sleeve. Summit Entertainment continues to impress with a slow but steady stream of Blu-ray releases. A quality video transfer, an exceptional lossless soundtrack, and a unique commentary track make this a disc that's easily worth renting, and fans can buy without hesitation. Recommended.