Jeff Wells has a first look of Doug Liman’s “Fair Game,” and one of the first reputable reports from a screening (in that people who write into Jeff Wells are say, slightly more reputable than those that write into AICN). The image is actually not a press photo, but it might as well be. It turns out it’s an old-ish set photo from earlier this year, but is essentially new to all of us.
The film is being touted as a “return to form,” for Liman and we think, wait, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” is top-notch escapist entertainment (no matter what you trolls might say), “The Bourne Identity” is great and… oh right, “Jumper,” a film that looks so bad (I personally never even bothered with it), that one is shocked to remind themselves its actually a Doug Liman film (dude, please don’t bother with “Jumper 2”).
For those that need a refresher, it’s basically a take on CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson’s story, which was also fictionalized by Rod Lurie in his 2008 film, “Nothing But the Truth.” While that one came and went (but featured very good performances by Kate Beckinsale and Vera Farmiga) Liman’s take is more direct. Naomi Watts actually plays Plame (where as Farmiga played a character like her in ‘Truth’). Sean Penn actually plays her husband Joseph Wilson who started the whole chain of events when 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.
The film is basically the last one Liman shot before announcing a sabbatical in June (production was in April/May). If somehow you don’t remember Plame-gate in 2003 (and really, shame on you if you were that out of touch), the recap is Plame’s status as a CIA agent was revealed by White House officials allegedly out to discredit her husband who wrote the aforementioned article. Her undercover CIA status was compromised and then a whole shit storm took place in Washington to discover who leaked the information to the Washington Post, who wrote the story outing Plame (Scooter Libby eventually fell on the sword for the Bush administration, according to IMDB, he’s being played by character actor David Andrews).
So what of the film and the report? According to the post Wells ran, which actually comes from CoronaComingAttractions, it’s:
“Really a tremendous, thought-provoking film. Naomi Watts plays … her wonderfully. The story is set up through a sequence at the beginning showing her in action in the field, and in the CIA headquarters being completely dedicated to her job. She loves what she does for her country even at the price the travel and the secrecy puts on her family life.
The film clocked in at roughly 1:50, and paced tremendously well. There was a side-plot they spent a bit too much time on involving an Iraqi family and Plame’s valiant efforts to save them from the invasion, but that was really the only [problem with] the film. Watts is excellent…and Penn is as good here as I’ve seen him. It’s directed by Doug Liman, who did an excellent job of it, and I believe he also served as DP, so kudos to him as I often forgot the camera was even rolling. Truly a wonderful human drama with political suspense that should interest anybody no matter how they vote. 9/10.”
Sounds promising to be sure. The report also says the turn for Penn could very well be his next Oscar nomination. Bill Pohlad’s River Road did the financing for “Fair Game,” so that could mean the picture turns up at his Apparition distribution company (Apparition also did “Tree of Life,” which is another Sean Penn film). Warner Bros. originally had rights, but let it go in turnaround. This one’s in post-production, so we should assume unless it’s a bomb (which it sounds like it isn’t) that it’s going to be held for fall 2o10? If Cheney, Rove or the rest of those reptilians are in the film, they’re not listed on IMDB (though Ari Fleischer is).