Warning up front: As a Canadian, I heard only peripherally about the Wilson-Plame-Libby affair, through our media, this don't have the "up close" perspective an American might have.
That said, I jumped at the opportunity to avoid "Potter-itis" and see a taut political thriller and this one didn't disappoint. Watts and Penn reprise their 'married' role they'd done so well in "The Assassination of Richard Nixon". Their acting chemistry makes them a believable couple, even when things begin to unravel in the latter stages of the movie.
The movie starts on a somewhat comical note, with Watts posing as a Canadian (!) and taking a dig at the Leafs (!), which had me hiding in my blue and white sweater and my friends chuckling in their seats. From there, we see Wilson and Plame globe-trotting to either eliminate proliferation of nuclear weapons or fact-finding the White House's claim that the tubes (dimissed by the CIA as irrelevant) are indeed tools of the nuclear trade.
The CIA is excellently portrayed as a small hive of interests and expertise, which comes to a head when Scooter Libby starts pressuring them for a motive to declare war on Iraq. Things come to a head here, after Valerie is "outed" as a CIA operative, much to the surprise of her close friends and relatives. At this point, Wilson becomes media-hungry and a kind of justiciar for his wife and the truth, causing their marriage to perilously erode. These family scenes are fine, none too dramatic and the interplay of Plame's logic and caution is countered by Wilson's exuberance and thirst for justice/publicity.
We all know how this one ends: Libby got off scot-free, war was declared and Wilson/Plame went into seclusion. It's certainly worth an hour or so of your time to see this one though, if only for a great portrayal of the CIA and some fine acting by Watts and Penn, believable in their roles.
That said, I jumped at the opportunity to avoid "Potter-itis" and see a taut political thriller and this one didn't disappoint. Watts and Penn reprise their 'married' role they'd done so well in "The Assassination of Richard Nixon". Their acting chemistry makes them a believable couple, even when things begin to unravel in the latter stages of the movie.
The movie starts on a somewhat comical note, with Watts posing as a Canadian (!) and taking a dig at the Leafs (!), which had me hiding in my blue and white sweater and my friends chuckling in their seats. From there, we see Wilson and Plame globe-trotting to either eliminate proliferation of nuclear weapons or fact-finding the White House's claim that the tubes (dimissed by the CIA as irrelevant) are indeed tools of the nuclear trade.
The CIA is excellently portrayed as a small hive of interests and expertise, which comes to a head when Scooter Libby starts pressuring them for a motive to declare war on Iraq. Things come to a head here, after Valerie is "outed" as a CIA operative, much to the surprise of her close friends and relatives. At this point, Wilson becomes media-hungry and a kind of justiciar for his wife and the truth, causing their marriage to perilously erode. These family scenes are fine, none too dramatic and the interplay of Plame's logic and caution is countered by Wilson's exuberance and thirst for justice/publicity.
We all know how this one ends: Libby got off scot-free, war was declared and Wilson/Plame went into seclusion. It's certainly worth an hour or so of your time to see this one though, if only for a great portrayal of the CIA and some fine acting by Watts and Penn, believable in their roles.