MOVIE REVIEW: State Of Play (12A)

Glaswegian director Kevin MacDonald goes from strength to strength in the ten years since winning an Oscar for his documentary One Day in September. Following the huge success of his other award winner The Last King of Scotland, he directs an Americanized version of the 2003 TV mini-series State of Play.

Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is thrown into public controversy when a researcher he was having an affair with appears to commit suicide. In steps Washington journalist, and Collins’ college friend, Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe). Initially trying to dig his old friend out of trouble, he links the death to a pair of sinister backstreet murders and possibly a corporate conspiracy that implicates some of the most powerful men in America.

Political movies always walk a tightrope - contain enough political terminology to keep it credible, but still include enough intrigue and characters to make it entertaining. Crowe’s previous film, Body of Lies, fell foul of one of these requirements, losing half the audiences in a sea of anagrams and procedural terms. What director MacDonald does here is make State of Play intelligent yet easy to follow, but he also sketches out characters you actually care about. Collins is not simply a political template, you see the human element to the situation. Likewise, McAffrey isn’t a grubby, dirt-sniffing reporter, he simply believes there’s more to what he’s reporting than soundbites and gossip. Some of the action is a bit too ‘Die Hard’, and the conspiracy theory is at times a little hard to swallow, but for something that keeps your interest from beginning to end it’s a fair trade.

Crowe has clearly hit the fast food (again) to put on a ‘method paunch’, but as McAffrey he’s oddly likeable. Annoyingly enigmatic at times, but overall a great lead and his scenes with Affleck are great. Rachel McAdams is suitably feisty as Crowe’s rookie reporting partner, but next to such a heavyweight (no pun intended) she doesn’t get much of the stage. Affleck, who tends to play support roles since directing the amazing and overlooked Gone Baby Gone, is really believable as a man whose entire life is unravelling. The conflict between wanting to do the right thing and keeping a low public profile is one of the more engaging plot points.

It forgoes the intensity of, say, The West Wing for something a little more over the top, but still an accomplished and satisfying film. Well cast principle actors and a story that is interesting but not totally unbelievable make it another positive entry in MacDonald’s Hollywood CV.