Blood Ties (2013)

Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.

A thriller with a stellar cast functions as study of a complex brotherly love/hate relationship; manages to keep one's attention, despite a large array of characters and subplots and being slightly too long.

Maltin**: "Convincingly performed all around, especially by Caan as their sickly dad, but the too-familiar setups deliver merely the expected."

 

Fair Game (2010)

CIA operative Valerie Plame discovers her identity is allegedly leaked by the government as payback for an op-ed article her husband wrote criticizing the Bush administration.

Effective political drama based on a true case manages to tell the story straight and fairly simple, although it does heroize the two leads a bit; Watts and Pean, however, are in top form.

Maltin***: "Intimate, propulsive drama...reveals how these events affected their lives and threatened their marriage. Engrossing and credible; an especially fine showcase for Watts."