I went to see Fair Game the other week, and in truth it wasn’t half bad. Starting Naomi Watts and Sean Penn the movie is about the life of Valerie Plame, a former CIA agent, and her husband Joe Wilson, a former ambassador.
It’s a true story that occurred in 2002 when George Bush decided to go to war on the basis they had obtained uranium from Niger. As part of the intelligence to find out about Iraq’s possible weapons of mass destruction Joe Wilson is sent by the CIA to Niger in order to investigate the suspicion of ‘yellow cake’ being moved to Iraq.
He found no evidence whatsoever, so when Bush announces it as a reason for going to war, he publicly speaks out. Of course the government dislike this and retaliate by revealing the identity of his wife, Valerie. Yes folks, that’s illegal.
Of course this results in the media hounding the couple calling them traitors. They now receive death threats by the simple Americans who stare blankly at Fox News all day and take it as gospel.
Which brings me nicely on to one of my pet hates, Fox News. It doesn’t take much for me to get annoyed when it comes to Fox News, heck, just show me a picture of Glen Beck and I’m already climbing the walls looking for an emergency alarm button to evacuate the entire planet.
I think I just hate it mostly because it is so biased it might as well call itself ‘Republican News’. It really is painful viewing for anyone who still has possession of their own thoughts. Essentially Fox News is a pro-government news network…when the Republicans are in office. When the Democrats are in charge the station becomes more anti-government than an Egyptian on Twitter.
The film itself is actually quite good. It stays true to life, and although it is obviously dramatised, it isn’t blown out of proportion. This isn’t Salt: the American version so don’t expect any gun slinging or anything like that. Instead, expect arguments and outrage a-plenty.
It’s directed by Doug Liman, of The Bourne Identity fame. It’s not really much like Bourne, but there are moments towards the beginning where the camera decides to move about as if it’s a character in the movie itself. When in meetings it decides to fly from person to person like a tennis umpire. Sometimes it gets a bit jerky for no real reason other than to make walking down a corridor appear more dramatic.
I think the films message can be summed up in one short lived conversation Joe has with a migrant cab driver who tells him of his government in Sierra Leone, where the government has “too much power and the people don’t see it” and that in America it is a “different world” with no corruption. Joe simply replies “I wouldn‘t be so sure.”
It’s a well thought out film that makes you think about what went on during the beginnings of the Iraq war. It’s an important story that needs to be told. It shows just how corrupt modern day governments are. I don’t know how well received this film was in the States as they’re always uneasy about things like this.
I like the way Fair Game uses actual footage too, whether it be archive footage of George Bush’s address to the nation or the Fox News contributors talking smack about Valerie and Joe, one particular imbecile even calling Valerie nothing more than a secretary at the CIA.
One particular scene that made me angry is when a hack reporter ruins one of Joe’s meetings with important men as he tries to fight back against the whole scandal. As Joe is in the bathroom she goes over and tells the men that he is a traitor and spouts on and on until Joe emerges and she starts having a go at him like a mindless drone programmed by Fox. One of the best lines in the movie is when Joe yells at her “Shame on you!”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Shame on you Fox. Shame on you.
Final verdict: 3 Stars. A firm but fair telling of an important story.
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