Aharr mateys. Let's set sail. This is where your favourite or less favourite movies, DVD's and TV Series get trashed or praised. Depending on my mood, lol.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Fair Game


Now this film is as intelligent and interesting as they come along once in a blue moon. The title refers to the book written by Valerie Palme Wilson and the film is set shortly after September 11th. America is battling it's emerging paranoia and the crazy weapons of mass distruction ideas. The plot and the dialogue are informative, quick and full of little details, blink and the information is gone. The editing is superb and the message is clear. Where do we get our information from? And what kind of news is propaganda and what isn't? Clearly Fox News is, we know that, but CNN, BBC, Sky News? In the times where Wikileaks was a mere idea in the brain of an Australian dude, I vaguely remember when they all reported roughly the same stuff all along while the sky of Iraq lit up on the small screen in many eerie colours. The story about the discredited CIA agent kinda came out of the blue and at that time I didn't make the connection.
Naomi Watts and Sean Penn are fantastic. She gives a very strong and subtle performance, playing the part of a highly professional, tough CIA Agent and then gradually falls apart bit by bit. Sean Penn is the retired ambassador who also falls apart, but doesn't stop fighting until both their names are cleared. There are the usual dinner parties with clueless friends who attempt a political discussion, but he appears to be the only character who fights them nail and tooth on their political views. Obviously Watts being an agent and all can't really get properly involved in the discussions. The camera is very obtrusive, it makes you feel almost a bit claustrophobic, many scenes are shot in a way that makes you aware of the other person and a possible elephant in the room. The colours are cold with a sharpness of a winters day except the places other than America. It felt very realistic, especially the scenes in Iraq. There was no cheesy, irritating soundtrack and when music was employed it always fitted perfectly with the story. If you want to see a critical film which makes you think and appeals to your intelligence, then don't hesitate to see it. I can only recommend it strongly.



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