First Hit: A very strong political drama based on the true experiences of Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame.
I don’t think there could have been two better actors selected for the parts of Joseph Wilson (played by Sean Penn) and Valerie Plame (played by Naomi Watts). Both are very accomplished actors and have strong political views which they get to act out in this film.
The well-known premise is that Plame, an 18 year veteran in covert activities with the CIA was publicly outed by the Bush White House staff to save their own skin from fabricating evidence to raid Iraq with their shock and awe bombing.
Joseph had written a report that discounted the belief that 500 tons of yellowcake material had been mined in Niger and sent to Iraq for the development of weapons of mass destruction. Because Plame and Wilson knew the truth they destroyed them publicly.
Eventually they were exonerated and the truth was heard. Penn, as Wilson, was his glorious self, standing in front of audiences tearing apart the governments’ ideas of the truth.
The director (Doug Liman) and his team did a remarkable job of interlacing real clips of Bush’s administration making their case to the public and the international community along with their filmed scenes.
Penn was fabulous and while watching him lambast the Bush Administration I couldn’t help but see the distance and nearness of this character and Jeff Spicoli. He embodies the idea and the truth of the person he is playing. Watts was spectacular. I loved the way she carried her strength not only when she was interviewing a possible ally, speaking to an enemy or working with her counterparts. David Andrews plays Scooter Libby with the manipulative tenacity I would have expected. Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth did a great job with Joseph Wilson’s book “The Politics of Truth” and Valerie Plame’s book “Fair Game”. Liman did a great job of directing this film with full story clarity.
Overall: A very strong film which also can be a bit scary when one realizes how some government officials can bend their truth in a way that can cost thousands of lives – look what happen in Iraq.