Fair Game

PG-13

Released Nov 19, 2010

1 hr. 47 min.

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

Biography

List

79%

177 Reviews

Tomatometer

65%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Wife and mother Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) has a double life as a CIA operative, hiding her vocation from family and friends. Her husband, Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn), writes a controversial article in The New York Times, refuting stories about the sale of enriched uranium to Iraq, Then Valerie's secret work and identity is leaked to the press. With her cover blown and other people endangered, Valerie's career and personal life begin to unravel.

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Critics Consensus

It struggles with the balance between fact-based biopic and taut political thriller, but Fair Game brims with righteous anger -- and benefits from superb performances by Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.

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Artaray T

I just watched this movie on Peacock after I saw the real life Valerie Plume on a Jake Tapper episode and wanted to know more about her and her situation. I found this movie to be very informative and exciting!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/24

Full Review

Audience Member

how much of a game is fair when they find your breaking point until there's nothing left? what happens when you get too close to uncovering a conspiracy involving national security and government secrets? she was a mother, a wife...but also secretly a CIA operative for the United States government and no one knew about it Doug Liman, director of 'The Bourne Identity' presents Naomi Watts and Sean Penn in the true story of Valerie Plame and her husband, Joseph Wilson taking place after the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks Her latest mission involved people in the Middle East seeking materials to build weapons based in uranium in Iraq and she wasn't allowed to speak the truth to her superiors or share covert intel with others In response the White House outed her secret identity to shut her up but Valerie and Joseph were willing to launch a campaign to fight back not letting public opinion and persecution trample over them, it's very risky though taking on higher officials especially ones that run the country plus Joe and Valerie weren't exactly in sync in their respective careers as this scandal weighs heavily on their marriage and children; one always has to be louder and right the other doesn't see the point at challenging the higher ups since they have more authority, their desperation to do what's right almost downright divides them honestly it takes nearly over an hour just to get to the meat of the premise which is way too long Watts and Penn have such convincing performances though and Doug Liman's handheld camera technique works wonders giving the movie a raw vibe to the situation at hand during the Bush administration this is a solid example of American politics during tense times plenty of hard questions: does a good American shut their mouths? does a good American not speak up? how much does the government actually lie? do any of us know the actual truth? we have to speak our truth or it'll be used against us, sometimes justice can't be done and rarely does the truth prevail, there's always a battle of principles vs. politics the biggest thing that dumbfounded me was the ending, just as things were getting interesting and intense they just stop I seriously wanted to hear Valerie's truth being told but the filmmakers for some reason decided to not properly wrap things up whatever.....the actors are still fascinating to watch dealing with this damage with a very good director tackling provoking subject matter not to mention that this movie's context applies to our current commander in chief even if it is a product of the old Obama days obviously nobody wanted to go back to Iraq as we're still dealing with the war right now but still unable to have a conversation this is still a smart, sophisticated political thriller rooted in reality in our governmental interworkings and social/political landscape the older audiences will love this a lot

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/07/23

Full Review

jelisije j

A very good movie about issue that plagued the American government of WMD conspiracy.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

aj g

Boring!!! I thought the acting was "ok" (definitely not great) but the topic is so sensitive that I think the movie "missed" the mark. There's an intensity that is required by the unbelievable premise that this CIA agent single-handedly was able to get 15 Iraqi scientists to the border during a US attack. This is not the movie that delivers that.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

stoner j

Excellent drama/political thriller, kinda like Homeland the movie

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Jo v

It was ok. A bit confusing the way it was presented.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/13/22

Full Review

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Doug Liman

Director

Naomi Watts

Valerie Plame

Sean Penn

Joseph Wilson

Sam Shepard

Sam Plame

Ty Burrell

Fred

David Andrews

Scooter Libby

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Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

Fair Game was in no way a terrible movie, but with a scattered storyline and somewhat caricature-like performances by both leads, it failed to connect as it should have.

Rated: C

Sep 8, 2017

Full Review

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

This isn't a message movie, per se, but a strong point of view comes through regardless: In the battle of principles vs. politics, politics always win.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 4, 2011

Full Review

Philip French

Guardian

Although the outline of this story is well known, Fair Game gives it dramatic shape and teases out the moral problems raised.

Mar 14, 2011

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The viewer exits the film troubled, but not outraged—which is how we should feel after learning about our government lying to us.

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 3, 2023

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Fine performances from both Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.

Rated: 3.0/4.0

Sep 7, 2020

Full Review

David Lamble

Bay Area Reporter

English-born, Aussie-raised Naomi Watts hits all the right American-accented notes...

Jun 8, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

Wife and mother Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) has a double life as a CIA operative, hiding her vocation from family and friends. Her husband, Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn), writes a controversial article in The New York Times, refuting stories about the sale of enriched uranium to Iraq, Then Valerie's secret work and identity is leaked to the press. With her cover blown and other people endangered, Valerie's career and personal life begin to unravel.

Director: Doug Liman
Executive Producer: Jeff Skoll, David Bartis, Mari-Jo Winkler, Kerry Foster, Mohammed Khalaf
Screenwriter: Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth
Distributor: Summit Entertainment
Production Co: Zucker Productions, River Road, Hypnotic, Weed Road Pictures
Rating: PG-13 (Some Language)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama, Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 19, 2010, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 17, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $9.5M
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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