"Fair Game" - anyone watched this..?

[Aro]

Apologies if there is another thread on this; I did a search but got nothing.

Has anyone watched this? I saw it last night. For those who don’t recognise the movie from the title alone, it is a dramatisation of the Valerie Plame leak story and subsequent investigation, starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.

Firstly, It is an interesting story and worth the retelling, even if it clearly has a rather one-sided political agenda and barely touches on the motives and decisions driving the administration’s actions, which could have added some depth to the issues involved.

Secondly, for me it made for rather a dull movie, overall. I guess they didn’t want to slide too far from the facts in their interpretation (trying to create a ‘true’ historical record of the events, perhaps?) and thus were constrained by this measured approach. The movie lacked pace and even the strategic and psychologically tense portions could have been handled better and been more hard-hitting, IMHO. Maybe they thought the story was enough, and worth retelling simple and straight.

What where your impressions?

[Equipoise]

I saw it twice in the theater when it was released and thought it was one of the best movies of the year. I’m very disappointed it didn’t get more awards attention, if only for Watts and Penn. I followed that whole case very closely at the time and the movie was very accurate and faithful and I even learned some deails that I didn’t know. It’s one of the most horrifying and disgusting chapters in American history and the movie needs to be seen.

I thought the motives were quite clear, and nothing more needed to be said to add “depth” to the movie. It was petty revenge and the attempt to steer the focus of the media and the public from Bush’s blatant lie onto Joe Wilson. That most of the media and public went along with it is even more horrifying. That there are people to this day who defend the outing of a covert CIA agent for no good reason boggles my mind.

Maybe the movie could have been better, maybe not, and I understand your problems with the pacing, but it’s an important movie and I’m glad they stuck to the telling of the story and didn’t add anything to spiff it up.

[joyfool]

Ugh. I thought this was going to be about the movie starring Cindy Crawford…

[Aro]

@Equipoise

… I followed that whole case very closely at the time and the movie was very accurate and faithful and I even learned some details that I didn’t know. It’s one of the most horrifying and disgusting chapters in American history and the movie needs to be seen…

I only followed the events at the time here on the SDMB, as it hardly made the news in the UK. As I wasn’t totally au fait with all the intricate details, I was perhaps a bit wary of completely trusting that the movie was delivering a factual account, so maybe this was part of my issue with the story and pacing etc… Would you suggest that what was shown on the screen was really as close to the truth as they could have gotten it, albeit with the usual dramatic license?
BTW, was it ‘big’ in the US, when first released? ( It’s only hitting the cinemas here now). Did many truly care about this part of your recent history, or was it ignored as ‘ancient history’ or a piece of ‘liberal propaganda’, as I can easily imagine happening?

[Aro]

Missed the edit - Here’s a typical discussion (scroll down) that is pretty much what I would have expected with such a (potentially) controversial movie topic. Makes it harder for me to ascertain exactly what was going on, but maybe that’s what political mud-slinging and obfuscating is all about.

[puddleglum]

Here is a link to a washington post editorial debunking the facts of the movie. For those who don’t want to read the whole thing the highlights are: Valerie Plame was not working with Iraqi scientists, Joe Wilson did not debunk the yellowcake from Africa story, and the Plame exposure was not a part of a white house conspiracy.
Almost all hollywood movies about actual events are full of fabrications and distortions they are for entertainment purposes not about exposing truth.

[gaffa]

@puddleglum

Here is a link to a washington post editorial debunking the facts of the movie.

An editorial. Which links to actual reporting that does not in fact support the assertions made in the editorial.

For those who don’t want to read the whole thing the highlights are: Valerie Plame was not working with Iraqi scientists…

Valerie Plame was working on nuclear non-proliferation. Which the CIA will neither confirm nor deny. Seriously, they are the CIA, their default position is to not reveal anything if at all possible. Did you see how redacted her autobiography was?

Joe Wilson did not debunk the yellowcake from Africa story…

From the article linked in the editorial:

The agency sent Joe Wilson, a former ambassador with experience in both Baghdad and Niger, to run down the allegation, originally obtained by the Italian intelligence service from a note that turned out to be a forgery. Wilson debunked it.

Did YOU read the article?

…and the Plame exposure was not a part of a white house conspiracy.

Are you claiming that it was not part of a “White House” conspiracy if Scooter Libby was in the OEOB at the time he outed Valerie Plame at the behest of his boss Dick Cheney?

[puddleglum]

From the linked article about the Iraqi scientist claim in the movie

It’s true that Valerie Plame Wilson was working with one of the CIA’s teams trying to gather intelligence on Iraq WMD operations, but she evidently did not play the central role that the film puts her in. She was not directly part of the scientist program, according to agency officials.

Although the film suggests that the blowing of Valerie’s cover led directly to the shutdown of the Iraqi scientist exfiltration, an intelligence insider told us: “Something like this, if it was going on, wouldn’t have been canceled for this reason.”

About Joe Wilson’s trip to Niger from another linked article:

The panel found that Wilson’s report, rather than debunking intelligence about purported uranium sales to Iraq, as he has said, bolstered the case for most intelligence analysts

About the White House conspiracy against Valerie Plame, it is well known that the source for the leak identifying Plame to Novak was Richard Armitage who has a deputy secretary of State.