Fair Game (2010)

CIA operative Valerie Plame discovers her identity is allegedly leaked by the government as payback for an op-ed article her husband wrote criticizing the Bush administration.

Director:

Doug Liman

Writers:

Jez Butterworth (screenplay), John-Henry Butterworth (screenplay)

Stars:

Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Sonya Davison

4 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Naomi Watts	...	Valerie Plame
Sonya Davison	...	Chanel Suit
Vanessa Chong	...	Tabir Secretary #1
Anand Tiwari	...	Hafiz
Stephanie Chai	...	Tabir Secretary #2
Sean Penn	...	Joe Wilson
Ty Burrell	...	Fred
Jessica Hecht	...	Sue
Norbert Leo Butz	...	Steve
Rebecca Rigg	...	Lisa
Brooke Smith	...	Diana
Tom McCarthy	...	Jeff
Ashley Gerasimovich	...	Samantha Wilson
Quinn Broggy	...	Trevor Wilson
Nicholas Sadler	...	CIA Tour Leader

Storyline

Plame's status as a CIA agent was revealed by White House officials allegedly out to discredit her husband after he wrote a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece saying that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq.

---

Plot Keywords:

reference to massachusetts institute of technology | iraq | cia | new york times | interview | 

---

Taglines:

Inspired by true events.

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some language

Details

Official Sites:

Full Production Notes - MS Word [Australia] Official site [Germany]

Country:

USA United Arab Emirates

Language:

English Arabic French

Release Date:

3 December 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Plame and Wilson Biopic

Filming Locations:

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$651,802, 7 November 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$9,528,092, 13 February 2011

Company Credits

Production Co:

River Road Entertainment, Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As the elements fell into place, the Zuckers - producers Janet Zucker and Jerry Zucker - brought the project to producer Bill Pohlad and his company, River Road. River Road specializes in projects that blend groundbreaking creative objectives with commercial viability, including the Academy Award winning Ang Lee film Brokeback Mountain (2005), Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion (2006), Sean Penn's Into the Wild (2007), and Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life (2011).

---

Goofs

When Joe Wilson arrives at the Niger Republic, the registration plates are written in Arabic ( filmed in Egypt), where in Niger it would be written in French.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Valerie Plame: [arriving at Kuala Lumpur airport] Jessica McDowell, Gnosos Chemicals.
Chanel Suit: [on elevator] When do you leave Kuala Lumpur, Miss McDowell?
Valerie Plame: I fly to Taiwan Tuesday, then back to Düsseldorf.

---

Crazy Credits

In the closing credits, the last names of some of the characters (Hafiz, Jack, Bill, Dr. Zahraa, Paul, Ali, Hammad, Beth and Pete) are redacted.

---

Alternate Versions

According to Decider.com, the changes in the 2018 director's cut are: -The new version runs 1 hour and 54 minutes to the original's 1 hour and 48 minutes

• The Director's Cut shows Plame leading a quiet raid on a shipping facility in order to intercept a detonator
• A scene where Wilson expresses his frustration and fear that he can't know where Plame is being sent or whether she's okay
• A short scene airs after a clip of Bush giving his State of the Union speech where he alluded to Iraq's use of uranium, where we see Iraq at dusk, peaceful, before the U.S. shock-and-awe bombing began
• An extended scene between Plame and her friend Diana (Brooke Smith) after Plame's cover has been blown
• An extension of a scene where Plame and Wilson argue in their kitchen
• A scene where Joe is harassed at a restaurant and he yells back at the woman is trimmed up a bit
• A closing montage of Wilson speaking at various college lectures is re-edited
• The final scene of Naomi Watts as Plame testifying before Congress has been swapped for different shots
• The postscript: "In 2018 President Trump gave Libby a full pardon."

---

Connections

Featured in De wereld draait door: Episode #6.53 (2010)

---

Soundtracks

Another News
Composted by Marc Andre Dall Anese
Courtesy of APM

User Reviews

Great Game

Fair Game follows in the tradition of All The President's Men as presenting a probing look into an important political issue in the form of a crackling thriller. Director Doug Liman uses his Bourne Identity/Mr & Mrs Smith skills to move the true story of exposure of Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), the wife of US senator Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), as a CIA undercover agent by the Bush Administration at breakneck speed. Plame's research based on her contacts in Iraq had put serious doubts on the existence of WMD in Iraq, which was not in line with White House's view point. They thus considered her "fair game" for discrediting and public exposure. Fair Game is fascinating for all those interested in the mechanism of power and use/abuse of it; and is also a riveting piece of film making. In my view it's Liman's best film to date.