Many of you may be too young to remember the halcyon days of the mid-1990s, but that is when I was growing up and first becoming obsessed with celebrity culture. And around that time – say 1995, just to pick a year out of the air – there was no one bigger than Cindy Crawford. She was like, the biggest supermodel in the world, EVER. Everyone went on and on about Cindy. You had to have an opinion about Cindy. You had to know that Cindy was actually a model who was SMART, and nice, and she and Richard Gere were for real and there was never, ever a GERBIL, okay? Anyway, that year, 1995, was when Cindy’s film debut came out, a little film called Fair Game. It also starred Billy Baldwin and Salma Hayek (!). Well… the film was a disaster. Everyone hated it and everyone started making fun of Cindy because she’s a terrible actress and soon after that, Cindy and Richard Gere split up and Cindy was still an in-demand model but there was definitely an asterisk by her name: *can’t act for sh-t, isn’t so smart after all.
Long story short, some genius decided to make another movie called Fair Game, and unfortunately for all of us, it’s not a remake. This Fair Game, which comes out later this year, is about the Valerie Plame saga, where Plame, an undercover CIA agent, was outed by Bush Administration officials after Plame’s husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson, was out-spoken of his criticism towards the march to war in Iraq. Basically, it’s a story of war, politics, influence, the media, ethics, terrorism, betrayal, espionage, and a marriage. So why does it look kind of boring? I have to admit, though, I like seeing Sean Penn like this – clean-cut and in a suit. He looks nice. Naomi Watts… um… did she jack her face with something?
Okay, here’s my problem, and I’m about to talk about politics, so whatever. It’s a political film, so it’s right there. I get that Naomi and Sean look like the real Plame and Wilson, but this casting is making me itch. The real Plame is still, in my mind, a very sympathetic figure, a competent and intelligent woman who did her job and got taken down by powerful men and a not-so sympathetic husband. Naomi is simply too wispy and fragile… girlish, I guess. I don’t like the way she’s playing Plame. As for Sean – well, he’s an a–hole playing an a–hole. Maybe that’s brilliant, maybe it’s type-casting, maybe Sean is a legend in his own mind playing a man who is like-minded. I don’t know – I would like to see a different version of Joe Wilson, honestly. Tom Hanks would have been interesting.
I refuse to watch any movie that Sean The Douche participates in.
Kaboom- You are dead on correct!
I can’t tell you how much of an ASS Sean Penn is. When I worked for the sports marketing company one of my jobs was to go to athlete appearances, pick the athlete up and take them to where ever they needed to be. One year I had to pick up Tony Hawk from the San Fran airport and take him to the X Games then to a party that night that his sponsor Bagel Bites was throwing for him. We went into the VIP tent at the X Games and him and Robin were at a table next to us and tried to get us kicked out as trespassers! Tony wasn’t with me and the other agent I was with-but we weren’t messing with him or anyone. One of the hostesses told him we were with Tony Hawk and he just rolled his eyes. He’s a total jackass.
Naomi’s face does look a little puffy in the trailer. Fillers?
if the woman walking with naomi is the real plume then i think they could have used julia roberts (with a contract clause that says she is not allowed to open her mouth to full width and laugh out loud) or even sharon stone, though i do believe naomi is a quality actress who could pull off most roles….sean penn plays an ass**** quite well, type casting sometimes works well LOL
am i wrong for wanting to see more ‘edgy-lesby’ naomi circa ‘mulholland drive’?
🙂
wispy, fragile? Not when she’s acting. I think this is going to be a great movie, two good actors, interesting story. When I watch Naomi I don’t see Naomi, I see the character in the film. Thank god they didn’t cast Jolie in this, she seems like the hollywood go to girl for anything spy/action related these days and if we want to talk about frail, she looked frail/weak. I do lurv jolie, but she just looks so weak lately and much too exposed, and i’ve noticed she has the same kind of dramatic yelling scene in every movie too. She’s being totally miscast for what she is these days.
Didn’t those two act together in 21 grams?
The trailer bored me to tears, there was no excitement in it, trailers need that sometimes. I vaguely remember something like this really happening. Naomi Watts is a very competent actress, she can play anybody really, and I think people are to visual nowadays. Can we really judge a book by its cover? I try hard not to. Like when people say Angie is to skinny to do her stunts and be believable as a spy. Well I don’t think spies are obvious. They shouldn’t be. Its not something I am gonna see but I do wanna know the real story because this was a big story I remember. Love when you said Sean is an a-hole playing an a-hole.
I hate when people say a woman is too girly to play a tough female character. I’m 5’4″ and weigh 102 lbs and am wispy, and girly. My brothers are over 6′ tall, muscular and fit and each enjoyed long stints in the military and they learned long ago not to cross me. Size doesn’t necessarily dictate how well someone can take a punch or how hard they can deliver one.
I can’t imagine anybody wanting to pay to see this film. It’s old news from almost a decade ago and it wasn’t interesting then. Everybody has forgotten about it. It’s not like “All the President’s Men” when an actual sitting president was knocked out of office by two reporters. It’s about a woman who worked for the CIA. SNOOZE!!!
@RHONYC: You are absolutely not wrong and Mulholland is in my top ten favorite movies of all time.
@Canadianchic-they did do 21 Grams together.
Sean Penn. Bleeechhh.
I laughed when I saw the scene of her yelling at him in the park with all the kids around.
You’re right, you shouldn’t talk politics here. Plame was “outed” by journalist Robert Novak who got the info from outspoken Bush critic Richard Armitage, a state department official. No evil Bush admin attack job at all. This movie isn’t even true to Plame’s own autobiography, just more of Sean Penn’s disastrous political floundering. FYI, the movie title “Fair Game” is from the autobiography and is actually a quip from lefty Chris “leg tingle” Matthews.
“As for Sean – well, he’s an a–hole playing an a–hole.”
Says you. I like him.
Postaldog: You just ROCK. Thank you very much for setting the record straight. It is so hard to read here sometimes because of all the left wing slant on every single article. It gets tedious and I’ve stopped dropping by as much as I used to. I so appreciate your putting the truth out there!
Actually, “Fair Game” was a quip repeated by Chris Matthews, and originally made by Karl Rove, who – in addition to Scooter Libby – ALSO leaked Plame’s name to journalists. You may remember Rove as one of the prime targets of Patrick Fitzgerald’s (a Bush appointee) investigation into Plame’s outing, and you may remember Libby as the one Buch pardoned.
Kaiser – that story ran in the NY Times was subsequently proved to be false. Artmitage (an Iraq was protester) was the original leaker of Valerie Plame – who was not an undercover spy in the CIA, by the way. After Plames name came up is when others (including Rove) said Plame’s name to the media – not before.
Thank you Eileen, He’s an actor. I really dislike when performance artist think they are spiritually endowed to save us sinners. Maybe Sean Penn and Dr. Laura should have some babies.
Fair Game? That movie was so horribly despised that everyone remembers it. It’s like using the title “Showgirls” and not even thinking that there was a heavily panned movie (now cult film) bearing that title. Should’ve called it 21 1/2 Grams instead, the sequel to their first team-up.
and is actually a quip from lefty Chris “leg tingle” Matthews.
don’t know all the who and what re the Fair Game movie, but i do know exactly what Chris Matthews was referring to by the tingle up his leg…it was the same thing as the goosebumps i got from hearing a highly intelligent candidate like Barack Obama speak during the primarys…OMG, and no matter what the wishy’washy say, he is the best we’ve ever had and if the american people will give him a chance to show them, he can change the world as we know it…but i don’t think we’re smart enough to realize that.
I loved Naomi in “Tank Girl”
the trailer looks ok. just like Naomi. nothing special. and she doesn’t age well. she looks awful in the trailer.
GC – you must watch Fox “News”. Please broaden your source of news. Plame was undercover – to the extent that if she were caught the U.S. government would deny her existence. By attacking her because of something her husband said, they endangered the many people she had worked with while undercover. Scooter Libbey was convicted at this trial. I can’t believe the number of Bush apologizers. Is your memory really this short?
Eileen, thank you for sharing your experience with Penn. Very telling.
It’s a mystery why so many know-it-all pontificators “love” humanity in the abstract but one-on-one, their behavior is nasty, embittered, and entitled.
“Size doesn’t necessarily dictate how well someone can take a punch or how hard they can deliver one.”
That’s true. It doesn’t matter how tall or big you are, you just need to know how to fight!
Also, I remember that Cindy Crawford movie. Didn’t it go straight to video?
“It’s a mystery why so many know-it-all pontificators “love” humanity in the abstract but one-on-one, their behavior is nasty, embittered, and entitled.”
That’s an interesting point. I’ve known a few people, who in theory, are big on human rights causes etc, but their professed love of humanity didn’t manifest in their daily dealings with other people. I guess the challenge is to live your values.
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