Live from New York… it’s Thursday Night!

By Ron VanTimmeren
Vice President, Programming

The man responsible for – by his count – over $2 billion in boxoffice revenue for movies like THE BOURNE IDENTITY, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, MR. & MRS SMITH, JUMPER, SWINGERS and more stopped by Celebration! Cinema North, Grand Rapids Thursday (12/16/10) live via Skype from his New York home to Q & A with the audience of his latest political/human drama FAIR GAME.

Skyping with Doug Liman. Photo by Thomas Hanley.

Liman Family Politics
Turns out Mr. Liman comes by the subject of political transgression and drama naturally. His father, Arthur Liman was chief counsel for the Senate during the Iran-Contra Affair in the mid 80’s. The senior Liman’s picture hangs on the wall in the background of the skype shot. But he points out that FAIR GAME is much more than a “political thriller” movie, because, he says, “nobody watches that kind of movie”. Instead he’s telling the story of Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) and Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), a couple living near Washington DC and raising two young children while managing a career . . . in the (secret) CIA (Plame). As recent headline reported, they just happened to wind up as part of one the biggest government scandals since Iran-Contra when Plame’s secret identity as a NOC (Not Official Cover) was blown for political purposes by the Bush Whitehouse. The finished product that is FAIR GAME the movie is very well made, a compelling and thought-provoking film.

Liman’s Knowledge
Liman is very well spoken on the subject, in part because he and screenwriters Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth gleaned the facts for the movie from the documents of the Scooter Libby trial. Liman pointed out that politicized “intelligence” is bad for our country and that the abuse of power should not go unpunished. Lives were lost in the Middle East as a result of the leak that Plame was CIA . . . brought home with a personal touch in the movie as we hear from a scientist in Iraq that there was no nuclear weapons program and no weapons of mass destruction . . . the reasons we were given for the decision to go to war.

Join the Conversation!
FAIR GAME is film as art in the best sense, in that it moves you to want to do something. Go to http://www.fairgame-movie.com and join the Fair Game conversation! Liman is participating in some very grass-roots preaching – like a live skype session with a movie audience in Grand Rapids, Michigan – and anywhere else to continue his quest for justice by continuing the conversation anytime, anywhere.

FAIR GAME will play at Celebration! Cinema North through December 21 then move over to the Celebration! Cinema Woodland on December 22. Don’t miss it!