Fair Game opens Friday, November 19th You probably know the name Valerie Plame. She was the undercover CIA officer who's covert status was exposed by a White House press leak. The story is complicated, and many may still debate what is fact and what is opinion about this tale. But you can't deny that it's a fascinating story.

 

We all love spies, and here's a chance to see what the life of a modern day spy is really like. It's more about finding childcare and fighting with bosses who have more power but often less morality or knowledge than it is about running around with guns blazing. And Naomi Watts is intriguing, as always. Sean Penn plays her husband, Joe Wilson, who's so infuriated by the outing of his wife and the insinuations about their competence, their honesty, even their patriotism, that he shouts their version of events from lecterns and TV studios at every opportunity, even when his wife would really rather he didn't. I followed this story with great interest when it was in the news, but I never heard about the toll it took on Plame's family, on friendships, on her marriage. I never heard about the death threats and the cruelty of people who believed she and her husband were out to hurt the country they'd served for so long. And that, to me, was the most interesting part of this film.

 

It's often hard to create a taut, well-paced thriller out of a real-life event, but I think director Doug Liman does a fairly good job of keeping your heart beating fast. And, when he does fall into preaching, he snaps out of it pretty quickly. I'll confess to you, this one was a bit over my head at times. It's about challenging stuff (weapons of mass destruction, the Iraq war, intelligence-gathering, centrifuges and scientists), and, if you don't pay attention, you might miss something. But, at its core, it's more about the people than the politics, and I think it's worth the effort.