Before the Cannes winners are announced tonight.....

The lone American film in competition — Doug Liman's "Fair Game," starring Naomi Watts as outed CIA operative Valerie Plame and Sean Penn as her husband, Joe Wilson — received solid but restrained praise. Liman said he already felt rewarded that Plame and Wilson, who came to Cannes for the premiere, liked the film.

"Any awards that flow this way really flow to Joe and Val, and Naomi Watts, who delivers the performance of a lifetime," said Liman, adding that the film's standing ovation after its premiere already was prize enough. "Just being accepted into competition and being given the kind of premiere we were given, I'm not sure we could ever ask for more than that."