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Aided by excellent screenplay, the narrative of Doug Liman’s
Fair Game is dotted with a good mix of suspense and terse editing
It is an established fact now that the United States went to war with Iraq on a lie, that they possessed the weapons of mass destruction. Fair Game is about the intrigue and machinations of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the government that led to the sacking of a conscientious agent and the emotional turmoil in her family life. But the title must not be confused with a mid-1990s romantic comedy which bombed, because of model Cindy Crawford’s forgettable debut even though she is teamed with the tried-and-tested William Baldwin. Based on an autobiography My Life as a Spy by Valerie Plame, Bourne Ultimatum director Doug Liman puts together a taut, action-packed drama, which switches from the seat of power at the Pentagon to Saddam Hussain’s killing fields with deft cuts that not only bring out the stark living conditions but also some telling Iraqi cameos.
Aided, no doubt, by an excellent screenplay by Jez and John Butterworth, Liman’s narrative is dotted with a good mix of suspense (cutting out some key lines enhances it) and terse editing but he doesn’t let all this dull his fascinating camerawork. Naomi Watts also does an excellent job getting under the skin of Valerie Plame and the manner in which she is forced to fight against the ruthless system. Seam Penn plays her distraught husband US Senator John Wilson. "Wilson’s wife is fair game," the powers that be say and that’s the signal for the show to begin. Infiltrating into Iraq and unconsciously hoodwinking honest folk, Valerie, later, suffers pangs of conscience when her bosses betray her by doing a volte-face. This docu-drama lacks a clear plot and exposes the ignorance of the Americans. They did not know where Niger is and they only discovered Kuwait after going to war with it. Yellow cake and enriched uranium from Niger are important issues in this ruthless game of espionage. The right ear does not know what the left one has heard. The confusion is unfathomable. And then, you have the leaks and the press leaks and journalists playing prima donnas (shades of our own version during the Niira Radia Tapes) and letting opinions pass for hard facts. It’s as today as tomorrow’s newspaper (not tabloid). Naomi Watts looks like Faye Dunaway in her prime and the mature Sean Penn resembles Michael Douglas. Indian Anand Tiwari plays Iranian scientist Hafiz in this compelling, thought-provoking entertainer. Don’t miss it.
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