Fair Game
Summit Entertainment | Release Date: November 5, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
9
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinNov 4, 2010
It's ultimately a tale of heroism in the face of fearsome, powerful opposition, but as stubborn pride masquerading as ideological purity proves Wilson's Achilles heel, the film's heroes reveal themselves as flawed to an almost fatal extent, and messily, fascinatingly human. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. ScottNov 4, 2010
Things worked out between Joe and Valerie, and for their real-life models, who are now the subjects of a terrifically entertaining movie. But that does not mean that justice was done, or that truth prevailed. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsNov 19, 2010
For a nation at war with its own values, Fair Game is a compelling, pertinent and scrupulously true political thriller in the honorable tradition of "All the President's Men." Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanNov 3, 2010
Fair Game gets you riled up all over again at a deeply unpatriotic abuse of power. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNov 5, 2010
Though based on a true story with a well-known outcome, Doug Liman's Fair Game is as suspenseful as any fictional thriller -- and considerably more tragic. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesNov 4, 2010
Doug Liman's Fair Game is a model exercise in dramatizing recent political scandal, and easily the best fact-based Hollywood political thriller since "All the President's Men." Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttNov 1, 2010
Liman outfits the film with spy-thriller packaging worthy of his "The Bourne Identity," so the film probably will attract above-average coin and possibly awards attention. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNov 1, 2010
Exposed, abandoned, branded as traitors, the Wilsons finally have no choice but to tell their story, the latest chapter of which is this potent Hollywood melodrama. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazinePete HammondNov 1, 2010
With first-rate performances from Sean Penn and Naomi Watts and a compelling script, this suspenseful, taut drama should keep audiences nailed to their seats. Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottNov 24, 2010
The result is a movie that is about as riveting as -- well, as your average Robert Novak column. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayNov 18, 2010
The kind of taut, serious adult drama Hollywood rarely produces anymore. Quality-starved audiences should flock to it, if only to ensure that more of them get made. Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreNov 17, 2010
As spy thrillers go, more chilling than thrilling. But that's what makes it easy to relate to. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallNov 17, 2010
Liman handles the spy stuff with Bourne-again flair, especially the opener when Valerie proves her mettle during an assignment to secure a snitch. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigNov 11, 2010
More admirable than riveting, Fair Game works best as a portrait of power games at the highest levels. Read full review
75
MovielineMichelle OrangeNov 6, 2010
Physically Watts is of course a decent match for the even more aggressively glamorous Plame; in spirit, it would seem, they are even closer. In the field Plame was first and foremost an actress, a pretender whose belief in her pretending was often of mortal consequence. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyNov 5, 2010
The more compelling performance comes from Watts as Valerie. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNov 4, 2010
Watts is the movie's soul, thoughtful and deep-revolving. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaNov 4, 2010
Watts gives a deep and Oscar-worthy performance here, displaying the steely composure that made Plame a valued NOC (non-official cover operative). Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNov 4, 2010
Liman's sensibility isn't sophisticated enough to tease out the nuances of what must be a pretty interesting marriage; the movie is more about texture and surfaces and surface tensions. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertNov 3, 2010
What's effective is how matter-of-fact Fair Game is. This isn't a lathering, angry attack picture. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedNov 3, 2010
Fair Game is an important exposé of corrupt political power gone toxic. It's good enough that it deserves to be better. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranNov 4, 2010
It seems to be doing everything right but still doesn't manage to leave you with a completely satisfied feeling. Read full review
70
The New YorkerDavid DenbyNov 1, 2010
An effective political melodrama that induces a peculiar emotion--the bitterness generated by an old anger that has faded into dull exasperation and now flares up again. [8 Nov. 2010, p.92]
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerNov 6, 2010
It's more than enough that the Wilsons were punished and pilloried for telling the truth. We don't need to see them sanctified by righteousness. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovNov 5, 2010
Still, this is recent and public history, and Fair Game, which both fascinates and infuriates, comes across as little more than a footnote in an ever-lengthening list (thanks, Wikileaks!) of the Bush White House's sordid, potentially treasonous actions leading up to and beyond the invasion of Iraq. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversNov 4, 2010
Spends too much time covering ground well known from the headlines. But the scenes of the couple at home with their children and friends are uniquely fascinating, if not, in Wilson's words, "very 007-ish." Read full review
60
EmpireKim NewmanMar 5, 2011
In the filmography of liberal-skewing, Bush-era true stories, this is a measured, persuasive item. Read full review
60
Time OutDavid FearNov 3, 2010
Then Plame's cover gets blown, and so does the film's; suddenly, the clunky melodrama that had been lurking in the shadows starts hogging the spotlight. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn LevyNov 4, 2010
Fair Game, a murky potboiler based on memoirs by both Plame and Wilson, makes a hash of these piquant ingredients. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaNov 6, 2010
An emotionally inert film that never pulls viewers into the spiraling web of deceit that the couple face. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithNov 5, 2010
Fair Game stars three imposing performers -- Naomi Watts, Sean Penn and Sean Penn's lavish and intemperate hair, a fuming gusher of crazy-ass Sweeney Todd locks that dominates every scene. I couldn't tear my eyes from it, maybe because I couldn't maintain focus on anything else in this histrionic and shamelessly misleading wonk-work. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternNov 4, 2010
Most of the scenes depicting the couple's domestic life are borderline-banal, and they miniaturize the political drama that plays out partly in public, partly in the shadows but almost always in a middle distance just beyond emotional reach. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrNov 4, 2010
Fair Game takes one of the more shameful sub-chapters in modern US politics - and turns it into a strident, condescending Hollywood melodrama. Read full review
50
Village VoiceNick PinkertonNov 2, 2010
Penn's lachrymosity and hotheaded indignity seem cartooned against Watts's contained conviction-though more incongruous couples have certainly existed-but the film's assertion of Plame and Wilson as real people rather than characters consists mostly of draining them of anything compelling. Read full review
50
VarietyJustin ChangNov 1, 2010
Fair Game serves up impeccable politics with a bit too much righteous outrage and not quite enough solid drama. Read full review
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