Fair Game

Fair Game brings the real-life story of CIA operative Valerie Plame to the big screen. Naomi Watts stars as the spy with Sean Penn as her retired diplomat husband, Joe Wilson. Set in 2002, she's in charge of weapons of mass destruction investigations, and high drama is paired with a preoccupation with television footage from the war on terror which fills the film but fails to add gravity. Dropped directly into the story alongside poorly-drawn dinner table chats, this smorgasbord of "real-life" moments are at odds with intense monologues and general Hollywood bombast. The heavy tone persists with few mood-lightening moments.

The film picks up when Valerie is outed in the mainstream press by officials in the White House in retaliation for an article written by her husband. While the sudden acceleration is welcome, the film would have benefitted for this revelation to come about 20 minutes in, rather than as a sudden third act rush. [Nicola Balkind]