MOVIE REVIEW - Fair Game

The new Sean Penn/Naomi Watts movie Fair Game has been at the theaters for a week or two now, to literally no fanfare at all.

Fair Game is the story of the CIA agent exposing in the early days of the war in Iraq in 2003. It's the story of Joe Wilson (Penn) and his wife (Watts), as they are the victims of the federal government blowing her cover as a well decorated CIA agent. It's based on the Scooter Libby scandal who was the Vice-Presidents chief of staff in those days. In essence, the movie makes the case that the White House intentionally lied to the world for its reasons to go to war in Iraq in the wake of 9/11. And those who were potentially in the way, were destroyed in every way.

Fair Game is rather compelling movie making. A very well written script, with good dialogue, edited well, with enough to hold your interest for the duration. Penn and Watts are always good in most movies that they make, and this is no exception. To me, Watts is always compelling on screen. She has a real nice way on camera that makes her easy to watch, and usually very believable on the screen.

So why the tremendous flop? The financial numbers here are flat out embarrassing. Few reasons. Lots of competition, lots of animation, Harry Potter, and a few others as well. All valid. But a very interesting trend is developing at the movies the past couple of years. Two kinds of movies are just getting creamed. Romantic comedies, and movies view America in a less than favorable light. Fair Game is the latter. And it's just another causality of this trend. These two genres are really taking a financial beating, and Hollywood is eventually going to have to address this. These financial beat-downs to the tune of 100's of millions of dollars can't continue. To be clear, this critic doesn't think this is a good trend, to me there is room for all, but the public is speaking loudly the other way.

Fair Game is also a thinking man's movie, and that is another trend as well. The movie going public seemingly more and more just wants to be entertained. They want action, they want to laugh, they want big effects for big box office success. Animation is huge too. And much of the time, they want the movie to take them somewhere other than where they are. I feel there is room for all kinds of movies, but the box office is young people driven. Movies like Fair Game, are simply in the eye of the hurricane. Mix a young audience with the money and time to go, the subject matter, and the changing movie habits of the movie going public, and it has no chance.

Fair Game. It has it's moments, but good but not great. For the very few that will see this movie it's though provoking and open to for lively debate over coffee after it's over.