State of Play
So, I’ve read in some reviews of Kevin MacDonald’s adaptation of the British mini-series that some critics see this as the end of an era for this type of thriller. I know they can’t be talking about political corruption, because that’ll always be en vogue as long as there are politicos capable of abusing their power. And despite a lot of evidence to the contrary, I don’t really see the newspaper angle of the story really going away, although with instant blogging, it’s certainly been marginalized to a large degree.
That said, “State of Play” does feel like a dying breed in a cinematic landscape ruled by comic book heroes and dick-and-fart jokesters, albeit one with more than enough gas left in the tank to make an impact. A lot of that comes from the actors, with a septet of performers bringing the drama to a fevered pitch that doesn’t subside until the final frames.
Leading the pack in Russell Crowe- looking frazzled and dogged at every turn- as career columnist Cal McAffrey, who starts off investigating a double shooting in a dark alley, but then finds himself embroiled in a bigger drama because of his connection with Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck, still in “Hollywoodland” form after years of blockbuster missteps), whose research assistant on a major congressional investigation dies under uncertain circumstances just as he’s about to take it to a major player in government outsourcing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Like all political thrillers, “State of Play”- authored by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, and Billy Ray- gets a little too convoluted for its’ own good, and quite frankly, the setup doesn’t really follow-through to a plausible conclusion (by which I mean, it seems like one misdirection too many), but MacDonald (who last directed “The Last King of Scotland”) keeps the tension running high- with a sharp assist by Alex Heffes’ score and Rodrigo Prieto’s cinematography- and the actors make it a high time. Crowe and Affleck run the show, but the supporting cast (including Rachel McAdams as a tabloid-style blogger in contrast to Crowe’s weathered reporter, Helen Mirren as a wonderfully bitchy but business-sense-oriented editor, Robin Wright Penn as Affleck’s conflicted wife, Jeff Daniels as a colleague of Collins’ with a darker agenda, and Jason Bateman in a scene-stealing turn as a PR man with a lot to tell about Washington politics) run away with it. “All the President’s Men” this is not, but MacDonald pays tribute to that iconic classic with a sharp and smart conspiracy theory or two of his own. The result is a genuinely entertaining movie for older audiences.
