As female spy stories go, Valerie Plame's is no Modesty Blaise or Mata Hari, but it is one of great significance and enduring controversy in the recent history of the United States. Her tale of betrayal at the whims of top government and the press is at the center of the new thriller from director Doug Liman, the deft hand at the helm of the energetic and smart The Bourne Identity. Though he didn't stick around to see that franchise reach its lucrative heights, he returns to the breathless political actioner with Fair Game.

In opening scenes reminiscent of the corporate intrigue and milieu of Michael Clayton, we meet Valerie (Naomi Watts) as she demonstrates her steely ability to infiltrate rogue nations and collect vital intelligence. Plame was employed from 1985 to 2003 by the C.I.A. in Greece and various Middle Eastern countries. She was assigned to investigate potential terrorist activity and nuclear material proliferation. Her husband Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) was a U.S. ambassador to African nations in the mid-1990s.

Foregoing much background into Plame's extensive undercover operations, the plot is quickly set into motion as the George W. Bush administration assumes power and begins a campaign to determine if a rumored sale of massive quantities of yellowcake uranium were sold to the Iraqi government by Niger. Given Wilson's familiarity with the region, he is recommended by Plame to go on a fact-finding mission. Upon finding no evidence of such a damning transaction, the Bush people send in the creepy (as played by David Andrews) "Scooter" Libby to arm-twist the C.I.A. into asserting that aluminum tubes found by U.N. inspectors could indeed be used by Iraq as centrifuge parts in a nuclear program.

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John Brennan (Russell Crowe) and his

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Maybe the mostly positive reviews went to that big blue head of his, but it worked with audiences: Megamind again led the box office, earning the top spot for its second weekend with $30 million. Will Ferrell and company bring the film’s total earnings to $89 million … still a bit short for its $130 million budget, but certainly nothing to sneeze at.

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