Good movie but grossly overrated

As Good As It Gets

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It's hard not to become enraged while watching this film, as the true events depicted are so disgraceful and appalling; so staggeringly unfair and unjust; so typical of human politics. It's a film that needed to be made, to set the record straight, and give some small sense of closure and justice to the situation. Because, as this is a true story, in reality the bad guys did not get their comeuppance, and the good guys did not get their lives back. But they can, perhaps, at least watch their story told on film and know that the truth finally came out. Even if it's really not compensation enough.This movie is excellent in every regard, with an eloquent and powerful screenplay, passionate and intense performances, and assured, focused direction. Every scene is fraught with tension and crackling energy, played-out brilliantly and simply by use of dialogue and performance alone, without need of flashy camerawork or overwrought music. The story is strong enough without bells or whistles, and the writer and director wisely keeps it front and centre.This is a film that can be re-watched multiple times, and each time is equally gripping and equally devastating.It's just a shame that however much truth you throw at corruption, however bright a light you shine upon it, there never seems to be enough truth or light to counteract the lies, deceit and corruption that exist at the heart of government. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. Everyone knows this. Few seem to care enough to fight it.

With regards to the above quote, all these years later, we know how empty those words were. The Iraq War was an unnecessary tragedy. The Bush administration was neither seeking peace nor striving for peace. They were out for the oilfields. And woe to anyone who got in the way of the project.Enter Joe Wilson (Sean Penn.) Wilson was a U.S. ambassador sent to Afirca on a classified mission to investigate reports that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was buying uranium from Niger. Wilson came to the conclusion that it wasn't happening, and he submitted his report and then watched in disbelief as the United States continued on the path to war with Iraq, using the story of uranium buys in Africa as justification. After going public, the Bush Administration declared war not only on Iraq, but on Wilson's wife - CIA operative Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts.) The title "Fair Game" basically seems to mean that Plame, Wilson and the children and families became fair game, to be torn down and destroyed in order to continue to justify the war in Iraq. It's a frightening story of people at the highest levels of power playing with people's lives and careers, deliberately setting out to destroy those who oppose them, and adopting a definite "take no prisoners" mentality. I suppose those who supported Bush and the Iraq War will have denounced this as leftist Hollywood propaganda. I thought it was a quite credible portrayal of what goes on behind the scenes at the top. (9/10)

It's a great thriller, reality based, with fine performances from Penn and Watts, but the latest news now makes this picture seem dated and somewhat superficial. The State Dept translator turned whistle-blower, Sibel Edmonds, alleges that the Turkish ambassador (and corrupt official) Marc Grossman in 1997 revealed to the Turkish American Association that Valerie Plame's front company was CIA backed and to have nothing to do with it. In other words, he "outed" Plame and all the other agents who used that front. The company was immediately wound up. It has also been revealed that Grossman was a personal friend of Plame & Wilson, and that the pair met each other during a meeting of the suspicious Turkish American Association, which is a front for Turkish police and criminals to do deals with Americans. This really widens and deepens the Plame story, raising several urgent questions, and bringing into question the actions of the special prosecutor who found nobody guilty in the Plame outing. This film is therefore highly provocative, if for reasons it did not suspect. Needless to say, all Plame's subsequent efforts to get justice have been turned down flat by both the Bush and Obama justice departments. She now is writing a series of "thrillers", the first emerging last week, entitled Blowback.

As others have noted, the simple fact that this film is based upon a true story makes it the success it is. If it were a work of fiction, FAIR GAME would be nothing more than another very forgettable thriller. Yes, there are some of the inevitable oversimplifications, and the film is obviously subject to some bias by the fact that its primary sources are books written by the protagonists, retired ambassador Joe Wilson and his CIA agent wife, Valerie Plame. All the same, it captures the complexities of this very serious breach of security and miscarriage of justice about as well as it possibly could.Fine acting by two of Hollywood's finest, Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, along with a very realistic script, contributes a great deal. The quality acting by many of the supporting cast, particularly David Andrews and Liraz Charhi, is also a big plus.FAIR GAME shows some easy to overlook parallels--as well as anti- parallels--between the administrations of George Bush and Saddam Hussein. After watching it the first time, it's worthwhile to go back and watch key portions (if not the entire film) with the very illuminating audio commentary of Plame and Wilson.Along with a gripping storyline, FAIR GAME has a great deal to offer about the very nature of truth vs. untruth, the need for transparency in government, and the ease at which government officials can often circumvent the law. The biggest downside is that FAIR GAME is bound to become dated over time and will probably be of little interest 10-20 years from now.