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FAIR GAME (2010)Movie Reviews
Biographical drama about Valerie Plame-Wilson, who was famously outed as a covert CIA operative by the Bush administration in 2003. Cast:Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Noah EmmerichDirector:Doug LimanRelease Date:November 5, 2010DVD Release:March 29, 2011From:Summit EntertainmentRating:PG-13Length:1 hr 48 min
Fair Game (2010) played in key cities to very good reviews. • Ann Hornaday wrote in the Washington Post, "...a crackling political thriller that deftly navigates the knife edge between all-too-familiar recent history and more universal personal drama." • And Curt Holman wrote in Atlanta Creative Loafing, "Liman brings spy-flick panache to the film's globe-trotting missions and cut-throat bureaucracy..." More Reviews Below...
Fair Game (2010) Positive Reviews (44 Reviews, reviews below)
Alynda Wheat, People: VERY GOOD(cg) "Where the film falls short is in revealing more about Valerie and Joe beyond their careers. Still, with solid casting and acting, a worthy effort."(See all of Alynda Wheat's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 119 words, 11/18/10
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: VERY GOOD(cg) "...serious and substantial, deliberately paced yet filled with mounting suspense.... intriguing as an examination of a marriage under pressure..."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 732 words, 11/04/10
Thelma Adams, Us Weekly: MODERATE(cg) "Watts seems jittery and uneasy in the role and displays little chemistry with her ex-ambassador spouse (Sean Penn, in an unconvincing performance)."(See all of Thelma Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 73 words, 11/04/10
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: EXCELLENT(cg) "...gets you riled up all over again at a deeply unpatriotic abuse of power.... What's greater, the price of hiding the truth -- or telling it?"(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 228 words, 11/05/10
Claudia Puig, USA Today: VERY GOOD(cg) "More admirable than riveting... Its strength lies in presenting and exposing an account of political betrayal rather than exploring the human fallout."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 564 words, 11/12/10
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "What makes it work -- in addition to the energy and agility of the performances and the fast and fluid style -- is the precise counterpoint of public and domestic dramas."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,083 words, 11/05/10
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...smartly directed by Liman and forcefully acted... it seems to be doing everything right but still doesn't manage to leave you with a completely satisfied feeling."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 943 words, 11/05/10
Kyle Smith, New York Post: MODERATE(cg) "Liman 'urgently' shakes his camera and brings up tribal drumbeats on the soundtrack... It's like watching C-SPAN set to 'Survivor' theme music."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 595 words, 11/05/10
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "...absorbing... Watts conveys intelligence and a steely core... the movie is more about texture and surfaces and surface tensions. But it moves."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 542 words, 11/05/10
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...wants to tell a lesser-known story, that of the toll taken on two people caught up in events mostly beyond their control."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 323 words, 11/12/10
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...potent Hollywood melodrama... director Doug Liman works in high-efficiency mode, taking his tone from Plame's no-nonsense competence..."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 654 words, 11/01/10
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "...the film's assertion of Plame and Wilson as real people rather than characters consists mostly of draining them of anything compelling..."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 222 words, 11/03/10
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: VERY GOOD(cg) "...never gets as angry as it might, despite the considerable outrage expended by Naomi Watts and Sean Penn... But that's what makes it interesting."(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 809 words, 11/05/10
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD(cg) "...starts with thriller clichés and ends in sanctimonious preaching, but in between there are a couple of true things..."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 605 words, 11/05/10
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...it's not dramatic, no matter how hard Liman tries to invest the proceedings with jittery energy.... never comes into its own as a movie. It just seems like old news."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 235 words, 11/04/10
KEY CITIES (14 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a crackling political thriller that deftly navigates the knife edge between all-too-familiar recent history and more universal personal drama."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 637 words, 11/05/10
Mick LaSalle, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...riveting... Watts, as Plame, is the movie's soul, thoughtful and deep-revolving, admiring but suspicious of her husband's bluster."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 589 words, 11/05/10
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "The most riveting Washington thriller since 'All the President's Men'.... grapples with larger truths about our divided government..."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 141 words, 09/30/10
Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: MODERATE(cg) "...there's no sense of urgency in the storytelling, the film doesn't move toward its conclusion so much as things simply fall into place. At times, it is even dull..."(See all of Randy Cordova's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 286 words, 11/05/10
Clint O'Connor, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: EXCELLENT(cg) "...part-thriller, part-family drama.... In the end, 'Fair Game' is about deciding whether or not to battle power, and how far to take the fight before it destroys your marriage."(See all of Clint O'Connor's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 404 words, 11/19/10
Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "There's meat and spice enough... But the film, a murky potboiler based on memoirs by both Plame and Wilson, makes a hash of these piquant ingredients."(See all of Shawn Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 269 words, 11/05/10
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a compelling, pertinent and scrupulously true political thriller in the honorable tradition of 'All the President's Men.' "(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 357 words, 11/19/10
Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "...feels like two very good movies mashed together to create merely a good one.... a study of a threatened marriage... the WMD cover-up..."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 533 words, 11/18/10
Tom Long, Detroit News: EXCELLENT(cg) "...such a brutal and personal testimony to the consequences of dirty politics that it often feels too ugly to be true."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 296 words, 11/19/10
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (8 Reviews)
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "...the film's assertion of Plame and Wilson as real people rather than characters consists mostly of draining them of anything compelling..."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 222 words, 11/03/10
Katey Rich, Cinema Blend: MODERATE(cg) "...lacks the juice and drive to give us the outrage we may have felt when we first learned about the story.... it seems cold, uncompromising, and inaccessible."(See all of Katey Rich's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 636 words, 11/08/10
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: VERY GOOD(cg) "...kudos to Liman and his cast for transforming the kind of political meat and potatoes Americans generally ignore into the kind of engaging entertainment they enjoy."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 530 words, 11/04/10
Bill Weber, Slant: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The politics of 'Fair Game' are narrowed until they focus primarily on sparring inside-the-Beltway mates crying over their bathroom sinks."(See all of Bill Weber's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 739 words, 11/01/10
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...it's not dramatic, no matter how hard Liman tries to invest the proceedings with jittery energy.... never comes into its own as a movie. It just seems like old news."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 235 words, 11/04/10
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Liman brings spy-flick panache to the film's globe-trotting missions and cut-throat bureaucracy, but A-list, Oscar-bait film productions can carry their own narrative distortions."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 798 words, 11/03/10
HIGHBROW PRESS (5 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...the acting is first-rate, the script is smart and the story is an important one, it's also mysterious that the film is less than the sum of its well-crafted parts."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 350 words, 11/05/10
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "What makes it work -- in addition to the energy and agility of the performances and the fast and fluid style -- is the precise counterpoint of public and domestic dramas."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,083 words, 11/05/10
David Denby, New Yorker: GOOD "People just looking for a good movie might dismiss 'Fair Game' as too obvious a clash of good and evil, were it not for the quality of the actors playing the Wilsons."(See all of David Denby's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 875 words, 11/01/10
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...smartly directed by Liman and forcefully acted... it seems to be doing everything right but still doesn't manage to leave you with a completely satisfied feeling."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 943 words, 11/05/10
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: MODERATE "...a sleek mainstream entertainment... But the overall conception feels too streamlined to maximize the impact of leads Naomi Watts and Sean Penn..."(See all of Justin Chang's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,029 words, 05/20/10
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...smartly directed by Liman and forcefully acted... it seems to be doing everything right but still doesn't manage to leave you with a completely satisfied feeling."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 943 words, 11/05/10
Patrick Z. McGavin, Cinema 24/7: MODERATE(cg) "...an especially disappointing social conscious muckraking movie that yields a predictable litany of villains while seriously nullifying the dramatic interest."(See all of Patrick Z. McGavin's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,043 words, 10/01/10
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "What makes it work -- in addition to the energy and agility of the performances and the fast and fluid style -- is the precise counterpoint of public and domestic dramas."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,083 words, 11/05/10
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...the acting is first-rate, the script is smart and the story is an important one, it's also mysterious that the film is less than the sum of its well-crafted parts."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 350 words, 11/05/10
17.0 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Fair Game (2010)'s reviews are separated by an average 17.0 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Fair Game (2010) (44 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Fair Game (2010)'s reviews cover 82.5% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 24,806 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 564 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 19.4 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Fair Game (2010)'s reviews on average broke 19.4 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Fair Game (2010)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Fair Game (2010) (44 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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