"[I like holding the audience just at that point] where confusion and intrigue… coexist"– director Kevin Macdonald, from the commentary
State of Play is the new release from Universal by the director of The Last King of Scotland and the writer of Lions for Lambs. The movie dances just a little too close to the abovementioned line and made barely a ripple when it was released in theaters in April ($35 million domestically) but it is a worthy effort with an A-list cast that is a must-see for political junkies.
Russel Crowe plays Cal, a print-smeared reporter of the old school who is forced to pair up with Della (Rachel McAdams, The Time Traveller's Wife), a perky blogger fresh out of journalism school, by their editor, who wants them both to investigate the connection between a couple of assassination-style slayings and the suicide of a congressional staffer. Revelations begin to be meted out involving the relationship between Cal and the crusading congressman, a homeless runaway who stole the wrong briefcase and what she found there, and just what a private paramilitary corporation (read: Blackwater, excuse me, "Xe") would do to maintain the status quo.
Tony Gilroy helped adapt the screenplay from a lauded miniseries that played on the BBC in 2003, but unlike his other recent release, Duplicity, most of the twists and turns are comprehensible and in the service of the plot, not merely there for their own sake. Some material did get compressed and made unclear in the transition from six hours to two, but viewers are rewarded for their attention by precise performances from a deep roster of stars including Crowe and McAdams, Ben Affleck as the crusading congressman in deep trouble, and Dame Helen Mirren as the editor trying to balance her journalistic instincts against the new realities of print reporting. Jason Bateman gets special mention for a brief but pivotal appearance as a darkly amusing PR guy trying and failing to hold it all together.
Presentation: A lot of location-shooting in Washington for local flavor is well rendered by 1080p Hi-Def widescreen video and Dolby 5.1 audio. Second audio tracks accessible in Spanish and French and subtitling is available in all three languages.
Extras: A couple of deleted scenes and a 15-minute "making of" short. Nothing up on "What's new?"/BD Live site yet except a handful of previews and a utility for sharing favorite clips from this other films with similarly-equipped friends. "U-Control" menu allows a couple of picture-in-picture options- visuals to go along with the director's commentary or a Google Earth-assisted explication of some of the sights and scenes from the nation's capital.
No All the President's Men, the 1976 Oscar-winner starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford about newspapermen unearthing the Watergate scandal, State of Play is nevertheless worth a look for anyone with an unsated appetite for dark dealings along the Potomac.
ComicsOnline gives State of Play 3 out of 5 shouts of "Stop the Presses!"
PG-13. 127 minutes.
