Tom Sims, Executive Director of the Cape May Film Festival, reviews “Fair Game”
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Fair Game is a historical narrative set in the not-so-distant past. In 2003, the White House leaked the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame in an attempt to discredit her husband Joe Wilson after he wrote a scathing New York Times piece against President Bush. Here, Plame is played by Oscar-nominated Naomi Watts and Wilson by two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn. Can you tell the buzz is starting already for Oscar time? For two free passes to the 2011 Film Festival (October 21-23), be the first to send an email to capemayfilm@hotmail.com naming one of the films for which Sean Penn won those Oscars.
Long story short (or perhaps better stated, “Story that was too long shortened”) this film was watchable (I know, not a word) and Sean Penn was excellent as always. But you don’t have to sit on any side of the aisle to get the feeling you’re seeing one side of the story. And it’s not even anything egregious in the telling of the story. You get into the characters and plot deeply enough, but some scenes are clearly politically charged and others simply don’t ring true. All that said, it was interesting to watch, it just didn’t leave a lasting impression.
Let’s take a brief rundown of some movies in theaters that you might want to see and others you might want to put on your Netflix cue and “fuhgeddaboudit” (yes, I looked it up — this is the most proper spelling out there). Tron Legacy, the Disney animated gaming film is getting fair reviews; even better reviews are being tossed in the ring for The Fighter, a boxing drama starring Mark Wahlberg as a young “Irish” Mickey Ward.
The latest installment in the Chronicles of Narnia series has mixed reviews, although even its critics say it doesn’t outright suck (my word, not theirs). Same is true for The Tourist, a seemingly suspenseful cat-and-mouse game starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, though critics are calling it “soulless” and asking that you check your intellect at the door.
But the final word this week is “Thanks!” The Cape May Film Festival cannot thank our supporters enough (especially those at Exit Zero) for all the help provided throughout what has turned out to be a great year! We visited more high schools than ever to show films and talk filmmaking, hosted more film camps than ever this summer, and had one of the best film festivals to date! And we now have 13,000 views on our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/capemayfilm). We are truly looking forward to a fantastic 2011.
