State of Play (2009) directed by Kevin Macdonald, is a great showcase film for Russell Crowe. Crowe plays Cal McAffrey, a Washington, DC reporter, who's seen everything and knows everyone. He lives a solitary existence, subsisting on canned food and whiskey. (Naturally, he drives a battered Saab.)
Ben Affleck plays Rep. Stephen Collins, a rising, dynamic politician who is investigating a Blackwater-type corporation. Collins and McAffrey were college friends. Both of them loved a woman named Anne, who married Collins.
As the movie opens, three people meet violent deaths. One of them is a young woman who was an aide to Collins.
McAffrey goes after the story, and eventually starts to see links between the killings and the work Collins is doing. Loyalty, friendship, and trust all begin to unravel. No one's hands are clean. The question is, Whose hands are dirtiest?
Crowe is excellent as McAffrey--cynical, embittered, but still trying to learn the truth. Rachel McAdams plays Della Frye--a young reporter whose part obviously was written into the screenplay to provide a foil for Crowe. (The standard veteran cop/rookie cop pairing.)
The great British actress Helen Mirren is wasted in the role of the hard-bitten editor who has to say lines like, "Well, believe it or not, our corporate owners think that this newspaper should make a profit." (Not an exact quote, but you get the idea.)
Robin Wright Penn portrays Anne Collins. Apparently, some people have thought she was too old to be believable as Collins' wife. I think she was perfect in this small, but demanding, role.
The plot of the film was convoluted and confusing. If you look at the message board, you'll see that many viewers had questions along the lines of, "How did he know what she knew about what they said?" I started one of the threads. Several people wrote back with cogent answers, some of which were 180 degrees opposite to others. I think a thriller plot can be complex, but it shouldn't be muddled, so I consider this a weakness in the film.
Finally, although plot twists are appropriate in a movie like this, I think that the particular final plot twist in State of Play was a cop-out. It was as if the producers got to the edge of the pool, dipped their feet in, and decided that they'd rather not plunge in. Some people have suggested that the producers' decision reflects the reality of journalism today. Maybe so, but it it's true, it's really sad.
Ben Affleck plays Rep. Stephen Collins, a rising, dynamic politician who is investigating a Blackwater-type corporation. Collins and McAffrey were college friends. Both of them loved a woman named Anne, who married Collins.
As the movie opens, three people meet violent deaths. One of them is a young woman who was an aide to Collins.
McAffrey goes after the story, and eventually starts to see links between the killings and the work Collins is doing. Loyalty, friendship, and trust all begin to unravel. No one's hands are clean. The question is, Whose hands are dirtiest?
Crowe is excellent as McAffrey--cynical, embittered, but still trying to learn the truth. Rachel McAdams plays Della Frye--a young reporter whose part obviously was written into the screenplay to provide a foil for Crowe. (The standard veteran cop/rookie cop pairing.)
The great British actress Helen Mirren is wasted in the role of the hard-bitten editor who has to say lines like, "Well, believe it or not, our corporate owners think that this newspaper should make a profit." (Not an exact quote, but you get the idea.)
Robin Wright Penn portrays Anne Collins. Apparently, some people have thought she was too old to be believable as Collins' wife. I think she was perfect in this small, but demanding, role.
The plot of the film was convoluted and confusing. If you look at the message board, you'll see that many viewers had questions along the lines of, "How did he know what she knew about what they said?" I started one of the threads. Several people wrote back with cogent answers, some of which were 180 degrees opposite to others. I think a thriller plot can be complex, but it shouldn't be muddled, so I consider this a weakness in the film.
Finally, although plot twists are appropriate in a movie like this, I think that the particular final plot twist in State of Play was a cop-out. It was as if the producers got to the edge of the pool, dipped their feet in, and decided that they'd rather not plunge in. Some people have suggested that the producers' decision reflects the reality of journalism today. Maybe so, but it it's true, it's really sad.