jb_campo There are some high-profile actors in this movie like Ben Affleck, Hellen Mirren, Rachel McAdams, and Russell Crowe. Crowe is the lead role as Cal McAffey, tireless experienced reporter who has seen it all. Rachel McAdams is a newbie blogger who needs to learn the ropes. Helen Mirren is the chief editor, while Ben Affleck is this congressman who seems to have some skeletons in his closet.Add in an interesting opening scene of a young woman by a train and someone getting shot, and you said, OK, looks interesting.But there really was not a lot of drama after that opening scene. The director tried to establish some scary scenes, but really only one succeeds with a chase scene of sorts in a garage. Otherwise, there are some twists and turns, but nothing that will have you say - oh wow, I never saw that coming. I'm still on the fence about whether Affleck was miscast. He was just OK, but the story really was carried by a great performance from Russell Crowe. I've seen worse thrillers, but I have seen far better ones too.

inspectors71 Every time I figured Kevin Macdonald's State of Play was going to descend into cliché and corn, somebody on screen did something I didn't expect. The whole premise of the movie, its "high concept," is a cliché, but Macdonald decides he's going to make something more than a dreary veteran-and-cub-reporters-crack-the-big-government-corruption-case movie. Even if the viewer is predisposed to dislike a journalism movie--the way my wife despises courtroom dramas and we both cringe at jailhouse suspensers--he or she is going to find the characters, for the most part, engaging, or, at least, comfortably recognizable. Three things that caught my eye, besides the plot twists that kept me interested: Supporting characters Helen Mirren and Jeff Daniels underplay their roles, although Mirren's character spends a good deal of the movie snapping and fuming at Russell Crowe and Rachel MacAdams, and Daniels is very believable as a Congressional leader who doesn't have all the evil moves you come to expect in movies.The second grace in State of Play is how little Macdonald uses Ben Affleck. He's a critical part of the story, but Affleck also underplays the part of a corrupt, trapped US representative. He has his moments of being dramatic, but there wasn't a bit of scenery getting chewed when he's confronted with his bad behavior. Finally, in a political thriller like this, made by our friends in Hollywood--who never seem to pass up a chance to be hopelessly partisan in their quest for creating a Workerz Paradise--have made it subtly clear that Affleck and Daniels are--Egads!--Democrats. They're slimy and corrupt and phoney as all get out, but they aren't eeevil Republicans!A movie that is founded on a tried-and-true cliché, plot twists that take the viewer by surprise, characters that don't consume the sets the way my Chihuahua wolfs down cat food, and some freaking originality in saying that corrupt politicians can be liberals? Sheesh, what's the world coming to?

juneebuggy This was a bit of a surprise hit for me as I'm not usually one for the political thrillers or Russell Crow but the well thought out, slowly unravelling (and clever) story hooked me.Lots of twists I didn't see coming as a Washington D.C congressman (Affleck) and a reporter (Crowe) become locked on a dangerous collision course when the journalist starts investigating a case involving the murder of a congressional aide and his old college friend. Conspiracy theories, corporate cover-ups, informants and billions of dollars are about to be uncovered.I enjoyed Crow in this toned down role along with his ambitious protégé Rachel McAdams. Ben Affleck does a decent job too. Actually the entire cast was fantastic, including Robin Wright, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, Viola Davis. I couldn't single out any one great performance. A well thought out thriller. 06.13 (2)

Harriet Deltubbo Welcome to the world of State of Play, where thieves roam loose, dysfunctional families live in decaying shacks and violent dogs are barking everywhere. It's a world where the only thing that keeps lives afloat is the sensitivity of the bilaterally desperately needy relationships on display. All the characters struggle against a system that has perpetuated falsehoods. Against this backdrop, our hero must fight. The acting is very effective, save for a couple of scenes. Nonetheless, the cinematography is stark and bare, with only the soundtrack adding some effect. I finished this film, thinking, "There are people out there suffering and I can do something to help them."