State of Play

Washington Globe reporter Cal McAffery (Russell Crowe) has been assigned a story about the unexplained shooting of two people which resulted in the death of one man and sent the other into a coma. Meanwhile, an aide to Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) dies in what appears to be a tragic accident. And the multi-billion-dollar-a-year corporation PointCorp is under investigation by Collins who is suddenly under fire for an alleged affair with the recently deceased aide.
Doesn’t that just smell like a conspiracy?
The very recently released film State of Play is a modern day thriller about a political conspiracy inside Congress involving one of the nations largest paramilitary corporations and the reporter who attempts to discover the truth about what really happened to the innocent people murdered.
It is difficult to explain the plot while at the same time leaving information out because the plot is interwoven so well. It truly is a well-spun web of truth and lies with several interesting plot twists that keep the viewer captivated.
For the subject matter, the film is surprisingly humorous. Cal has wonderful chemistry with his boss, Cameron Lynne (Helen Mirren) and with his co-reporter Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) and there are several funny moments throughout the film. At first I felt the humor was a bit out of place in the dark story surrounding the plot but after a while, it seemed to lighten the mood.
The acting throughout the film is very good: Crowe, as usual, is superb and is well supported by McAdams. Congressman Collins’ wife, Anne, is played by Robin Wright Penn (Forrest Gump, The Princess Bride) who portrays the emotionally wounded spouse wonderfully. From the sleaz-bag Dominic Foy (Jason Bateman) to Detective Donald Bell (Harry Lennix), the supporting characters are well cast and strongly portrayed.
My one complaint with the movie is that the plot becomes slightly convoluted as the story progresses. So much speculation is made that I sometimes was confused as to what was fact and what was fiction (in respect to the conspiracy). Overall, however, I thought the film was excellently made and is definitely award winning material.