Fair Game

No, this is not the film by the same title that came out years earlier with Cindy Crawford. The current Fair Game is based on the book by the former CIA agent who was "outed" by the federal government.

It's a winner! Check out the picture above. With Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, could the film be otherwise? In the film, they play husband and wife, and they do it very well.

Let's back up a bit: No spoiler from this reviewer, but let's just say that the setting is very tense. Naomi is Valerie Plame, a former enthusiastic, successful, highly-placed CIA operative who flies worldwide to stem the flow of nuclear arms to terrorists. Sean is Joe Wilson, a former ambassador and player among the top brass in Washington, D.C.

The couple does the James Bond dance for years, as each goes off in odd directions to do very hush-hush work. They have kids and seem like a nice, normal couple. But ol' Joe has a very stubborn "the world-should-be-just" streak, and thus cannot stand by when he believes that the Bush administration is uninformed about WMDs in Iraq.

The stage is set for a hum-dinger of a mystery. Who dunnit? Who will do it? Will the couple fight the bigwigs? Will the powers that be win? It's all extremely edgy, particularly since it's based on a true story.

So for all you politicos who enjoy "spies and lies" among our leaders in D.C., this film is for you!

Grade of A-. Top-notch except that Sean Penn might be slightly miscast. He's a great actor, but possibly not best suited to play Naomi's hubby.