True story:
She was a covert CIA operative. She lived in Washington with her ambassador husband. They had a gracious home and two adorable children. And in 2003, they had the audacity to question the reason for beginning the Iraq War. She was outed. He was discredited. It was an outrage.
UPDATE:
Since The Movie Slut wrote this review, she has seen this movie for a second time and has a much higher opinion of it. She now believes it's a film well worth seeing. Not only does it tell the Valerie Plame story but it reveals the inner workings of our government. Maybe the Bushies were more ruthless than most, but as recent Wikileaks documents reveal, what goes on behind the scenes can be fiercely ugly.
The trouble with "Fair Game," the story of Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson, is that it's difficult for audiences to feel their pain in the midst of all the other pain involved with the Iraq war — the soldiers who lost their lives, the families who lost their loved ones and the Iraqis who lost lives, loves, homes and country.
Not that this couldn't be done. It just wasn't.
The usually brilliant Naomi Watts underplays her role as the outed Plame. Sean Penn, was given nothing more than a fat cigar around which to mold his character.The family's plight — money troubles, marital turmoil — is also understated. And the Movie Slut wonders why. The only conclusion she can reach is that the real characters had too much sway over what was presented onscreen. One embarrassing real-life moment — when the couple was featured on the glossy cover of Vanity Fair magazine looking all glam in a convertible — was glossed over and the photo completely absent.
As for the villains in this tale — Carl Rove and Scooter Libby — they're depicted as evil-doer caricatures: a blubbery-necked Carl and shifty, ice-eyed Scooter.
We want to love you Val and Joe. We just can't.
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