B

Fair Game & Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, or they'll blackmail you!


===========================================================================


{Temporary review of Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer... }




Manipulator's manipulators manipulators'.

Quite well done all too familiar tale of the dirty world of money and politics, yet told with unusual verve and honesty. Sure it's spin spun span, but one thing's for sure: Director Alex Gibney is the guy you want telling your side of the story!

One big problem though. Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer goes on way too long. If this was say a one hour episode of Frontline on PBS it would've knocked my socks off.

Client 9 joins movies like Fog of War and Control Room that give a harrowing look into the dark side of human power psychology.


4 out of 5.

(Though I can imagine a tighter director's cut scoring a much, much higher rating.)



===========================================================================


{Temporary review of Fair Game... }


Surprisingly, Fair Game gets the exact same review as Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer...




Manipulator's manipulators manipulators'.

Quite well done all too familiar tale of the dirty world of money and politics, yet told with unusual verve and honesty. Sure it's spin spun span, but one thing's for sure: Director Doug Liman is the guy you want telling your side of the story!

One big problem though. Fair Game goes on way too long. If this was say a one hour episode of Frontline on PBS it would've knocked my socks off.

Fair Game joins movies like Client 9, Fog of War and Control Room that give a harrowing look into the dark side of human power psychology.


4 out of 5.

(Though I can imagine a tighter director's cut scoring a much, much higher rating.)

One of the Bush era's several sinister moments has been made into a suspenseful drama by director Doug Liman (Swingers, The Bourne Identity). In Fair Game, Naomi Watts stars as Valerie Plame, whose status as a CIA agent was revealed in a controversial Washington Post article in July 2003. Critics of the Bush administration and its foreign policies believe, and Liman's film concurs, she was betrayed because of a piece, "What I Didn't Find in Africa," penned by her husband, retired diplomat Joseph C. Wilson, a piece which suggested in no uncertain terms the Bush administration manipulated intelligence to justify an invasion of Iraq.

Fair Game shifts gears a handful of times throughout its running time. An opening credits sequence which sets archival footage to "Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz suggests a lighter, wry tone, which doesn't rear its head again. Certain scenes play as "Bourne"-lite (urgent, hand-held spy-movie theatrics). And the film is not above allowing its character, Penn's Wilson in particular, to deliver extended, patriotic speeches.

The film is grounded by strong performances. Watts projects quiet strength, and Penn sells Wilson's oft-volcanic political outrage well (who better than Penn to play such a role?). Watts and Penn share a warm chemistry; it's easy to believe they are a married couple with their own emotional shorthand.

Though the overall film is not as compelling, persuasive, or powerful as the best of its genre (it falls well short of, say, All the President's Men and Syriana), most of the individual scenes are fascinating, and the acting is expert.

B+

Fair Game is a good ol' political film. The film does a great job building up the entire backstory on Valerie Palme's life before the scandal and gives a solid look into war-torn areas. The transition over to the scandal is done well and the last third of the film is quite riveting. The acting is superb. Naomi Watts is quite good but Sean Penn steals the show. It is a strong look at what goes on behind close doors and how life can move on in some cases, even if means leaving the victims in the dust. ***

It's alright. It shifts focus too many times, and ends too abruptly, but it's still solidly made and well-acted. There's no consistent tone, though, and that's what hurts it most of all. Either stay a Bourne-esque thriller or a Sorkin-lite political drama; don't try and mix the two together.