As the film year draws to a close, Oscar-buzz grows increasingly louder. Naomi Watts has joined the ranks as the newest heavy-weight contender for best actress for her portrayal of former CIA agent Valerie Plame in Fair Game.
Based on true events, the film describes post-Sept. 11 Washington D.C. from the perspectives of Valerie Plame and her husband Joe Williams, played brilliantly by Sean Penn. A U.S. diplomat, former ambassador to Gabon, and expert in African affairs, Penn is sent to Niger to investigate the alleged sale of uranium to Iraq, where he finds no evidence of such a transaction. When he later discovers that the Bush administration has rejected his report in order to build credibility for an invasion of Iraq, Penn publically protests. As a repercussion of his outspoken opposition, the White House exposes Plame’s true identity as a CIA agent, thus sabotaging many of her projects and ending her career with the agency.
The movie, from Plame’s memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, is a story of two struggles. On one hand, the film tells the story of Joe Williams’s public battle with the White House, Scooter Libby, and Karl Rove, concerning the release of his wife’s identity and falsified information. The movie also highlights the couple’s domestic strife during the controversy and it is in this latter subplot that both leads shine. Not only do husband and wife deal with pressure from the most powerful government in the world, the public, and the media, but they also struggle greatly with their relationship.
Mother, wife, and spy, Watts is a powerful presence on screen. Domestically she is a mother of two young children, and a wife torn between her husband, who is against the White House, and her agency, the place to which she has been loyal for so long and in which she has invested so much. It will be Watt’s portrayal of Plame’s stone-cold, “bend-but-not-break” attitude that should earn her Oscar attention. Often, when Plame is battered by stress from her family, her career, and her nation, Watts brilliantly transforms into the unbreakable character that invokes the question in every audience member, “How can she still be so tough?”
Penn is just as radiant portraying Joe Williams, the man who publicly condemns the injustices of the powers-that-be, despite his wife’s objections. His character is brash, intimidating, and steadfast, although sometimes annoyingly obstinate, in his efforts to protect the safety of his family and the American public. This character is perfect for Sean Penn, who is always capable of stirring audiences’ emotions with his sheer intensity in even the simplest of scenes. Fair Gameundeniably must be added to the multitude of films in which Sean Penn earns his title as one of the greatest actors of his generation.
In supporting roles, David Andrews plays an excellent Scooter Libby, the antagonist of the film, who, along with Karl Rove (Adam LeFevre), construct the plan to punish Joe Williams for criticizing the administration by uncovering Valerie’s identity. Fair Game is not an ensemble-based project, however, as Watts and Penn control the screen throughout most scenes. Nevertheless, the heavy focus on the couple is justified, and highlights the unbelievable chemistry between the two stars. The audience cannot help but to become emotionally embroiled in their poignant marital struggles.
It is impossible for anyone to know the true details behind the scandal of Plame’s identity release. The legality of Scooter Libby and the Bush administration compromising Plume’s position in the CIA, resulting in her removal from the agency, is still not definitively known. This film’s artistic goal is to make the audience angry, and it succeeds. All this, thanks to the riveting performances of Watts and Penn, and a script that hurls the audience into Valerie Plame’s unfortunate situation.
Most significantly though, the film is a tale of the human spirit. It tells a story of a married couple who must decide which allegiances to preserve and which to abandon.