Fair Game hits theaters November 5

LOS ANGELES: Fair Game, starring Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly and Bruce McGill, opens in theaters Friday, November 5.

The thriller is based on the true story of former CIA agent Valerie Plame, whose investigation in to possible weapons of mass destruction in Iraq eventually led to a highly publicized scandal involving the Bush administration.

The film has a runtime of 1 hour 48 minutes and is rated PG 13 for some language.

For Valerie Plame, the CIA operative whose cover was blown by the Bush administration, the best part of a new film about the scandal may be that years of many complex twists and turns in her life are clearly revealed to Americans.

Her support contrasts to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg turning his back on the dramatization of his life in the recent box office hit "The Social Network."

Hollywood filmmakers are famous for ignoring facts to dramatize a story in two hours or less, but Plame and her husband Joe Wilson seem happy with the condensed version of their tale of global espionage, Washington politics and White House scandal.

"We finally get the chance to say 'Here's the story' and take away the lessons, as Joe talks about, of what it means to hold your government to account for words and deeds," Plame told Reuters about the film "Fair Game", opening on Friday in U.S. theaters.

"Joe" is former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose public challenge of the Bush administration's case for war in Iraq in 2003 led to a press leak about his wife's covert identity, a firestorm of controversy and a criminal conviction of a key White House staff member.

"Fair Game" is based on Plame's book of the same name and stars Naomi Watts as her and Oscar winner Sean Penn as Wilson, and the real-life couple relish the opportunity it brings to reinforce their sense of patriotism to movie audiences.

"The lesson I hope people take away from it is that if you wish for our Republic to remain strong, you as citizens have to be responsible and do your civic duty," said Wilson.

The film's makers, however, are less focused on the politics than they are the personal drama of what happened to Plame and Wilson and the impact it had on their marriage.

Moreover, "Fair Game" is no plodding political drama. It is fast-paced and full of suspense, hopping from Washington to Africa, the Middle East and back -- what one might expect from filmmaker Doug Liman, who also directed action-filled thrillers "The Bourne Identity" and "Mr. and Mrs Smith.