Dave Dozier

The Return of the Newspaper Movie? State of Play Revises a Dying Genre



Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2009

by Dave Dozier

State of Play , the newest offering from director Kevin McDonald (The Last King of Scotland) stars Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck. It is a political thriller set in modern day Washington DC with the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan as its vehicle. It is the first enjoyable movie set in the newspaper genre that I have seen in a long time.

Crowe plays his character (Cal McAffery) sans guns, boxing gloves, or swords here. His weapons are words and "the truth", as he likes to tell anyone who will listen. As a reporter working for a newspaper, he a dinosaur in the new age of bloggers and tweeters. Like the stereotypical reporter that would do anything (and anyone) for a story, McAffrey is an admixture of character strengths and character flaws, all of which he keeps in equilibrium with double shots of straight whiskey.

Affleck plays the war hero turned rising political star who is investigating a private military contractor. He is a pretty boy and looks good as a congressman on his way up the political food chain. With helicopters ominously hovering the landscape throughout the movie, we wonder if State of Play will be just another Hollywood conspiracy theory. Thankfully, this is not the case. The dark photography and climatic elements (it is always thundering and raining throughout the movie) gives one the impression of DC being in the stranglehold of a slow, decaying demise.

As far as the plot, there are enough twists to keep the movie interesting, and the cast does a good job at their craft. Rachael McAdams ( The Hot Chick and Mean Girls) is believable as the blogger/reporter wanting to earn her stripes as a real reporter, and willing to let the Crowe character take the lead in order to do so.

The movie, at its core, is a statement about the incongruence of the human heart. All of the significant characters have traits that are admirable, some even heroic. At the same time, they each have traits that the viewers find repugnant. Even the most obvious villain has, in the end, some redeemable traits.

I give this movie 4 out of five stars. It keeps your interest and makes you guess without so many twists and turns that you feel seasick at the end.

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