Crowe shines in weekend release filled with intriguing storylines
Jared Burton
Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Investigative journalism makes a prominent and relevant return to the big screen this weekend.
Now I know some of you might have been anxiously awaiting an article about this summer's big movies, but let's be honest: How often do I find something I actually enjoyed?
With that in mind, "State of Play," directed by Kevin Macdonald ("The Last King of Scotland" and "Touching the Void"), is the story of murder and governmental cover-ups that will leave you captivated throughout its complex story lines.
The screenplay of the movie was also aided by Tony Gilroy ("Michael Clayton" and "Duplicity") and Matthew Michael Carnahan ("The Kingdom" and "Lions for Lambs"). This makes it hard to believe that the movie could have a weak angle from a writing standpoint, so needless to say the only thing that could possibly bring this film down is the acting. Well, surprise, that did not disappoint either.
Russell Crowe ("Gladiator" and "Cinderella Man") plays Cal McAffrey, a hard-nosed reporter for the Washington Globe, who is assigned the story of an incident that left one person dead and another in the hospital with no leads for the police.
The plot instantaneously spins out of control when McAffrey's personal friend, Congressman Stephen Collins, played by Ben Affleck ("Dogma" and "Smokin' Aces"), is told that one of his employees was killed while on her way to work. Collins has to deal with all this while attempting to put the kibosh on a large bill that will sell homeland security rights to one exclusive company. Believe it or not, he does this all in two hours and I can barely get this article out in that amount of time.
From here the storyline spins even more out of control with the insertion of a little go-getter fresh into the newspaper business, co-worker Della Frye, played by Rachel McAdams ("Wedding Crashers" and "The Notebook"), who takes it upon herself to get her own version of this ever-developing story with the help McAffery.
Now I know some of you might have been anxiously awaiting an article about this summer's big movies, but let's be honest: How often do I find something I actually enjoyed?
With that in mind, "State of Play," directed by Kevin Macdonald ("The Last King of Scotland" and "Touching the Void"), is the story of murder and governmental cover-ups that will leave you captivated throughout its complex story lines.
The screenplay of the movie was also aided by Tony Gilroy ("Michael Clayton" and "Duplicity") and Matthew Michael Carnahan ("The Kingdom" and "Lions for Lambs"). This makes it hard to believe that the movie could have a weak angle from a writing standpoint, so needless to say the only thing that could possibly bring this film down is the acting. Well, surprise, that did not disappoint either.
Russell Crowe ("Gladiator" and "Cinderella Man") plays Cal McAffrey, a hard-nosed reporter for the Washington Globe, who is assigned the story of an incident that left one person dead and another in the hospital with no leads for the police.
The plot instantaneously spins out of control when McAffrey's personal friend, Congressman Stephen Collins, played by Ben Affleck ("Dogma" and "Smokin' Aces"), is told that one of his employees was killed while on her way to work. Collins has to deal with all this while attempting to put the kibosh on a large bill that will sell homeland security rights to one exclusive company. Believe it or not, he does this all in two hours and I can barely get this article out in that amount of time.
From here the storyline spins even more out of control with the insertion of a little go-getter fresh into the newspaper business, co-worker Della Frye, played by Rachel McAdams ("Wedding Crashers" and "The Notebook"), who takes it upon herself to get her own version of this ever-developing story with the help McAffery.
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