Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here. Something that struck me almost immediately about the smart, complicated, and wholly satisfying STATE OF PLAY were the three men credited with the screenplay. Now, I have no idea whether these three collaborated in any way--I'm guessing not--but they are three screenwriters who have impressed me with their knowledge and means of telling convincing stories about journalists and those who occupy positions of power in our world. And the result of this carefully crafted screenplay (based on the much-praised BBC miniseries of the same name, which I have not seen but is sitting on my shelf ready to be watched very soon) is a tale that is more about the way in which even the purest forms of journalism can be influenced and less about simply a scandal and possible cover-up involving big business and corrupt politicians. But let's take a quick look at those screenwriters. Matthew Michael Carnahan wrote Peter Berg's THE KINGDOM and the Robert Redford incendiary LIONS FOR LAMBS. Tony Gilroy wrote the three Jason Bourne movies, as well as wrote and directed MICHAEL CLAYTON and the recently released, superb corporate espionage thriller DUPLICITY. Finally, Billy Ray wrote and directed probably the best film about journalists until STATE OF PLAY, a little film called SHATTERED GLASS; he also wrote the fantastic FBI drama Breach. Combine this braintrust under the clean and clear direction of Kevin Macdonald (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND), and State of Play might actually be one of those films that is so smart that it will scare audiences away. I hope to God I'm wrong, but it's getting really close to the summer movie season kicking in, and people are just about ready to switch their brains off. I hope State of Play is looked at as the final exam before the school doors fly open and the heavy drugs kick in. Russell Crowe packed on a few pounds to play seasoned DC newspaper man Cal McAffrey, who is slowly watching his beloved institution come under yet another new owner that puts profits over substantive writing and reporting. One thing his editor (played with the perfect copious amounts of cynicism by Helen Mirren, in her best role since THE QUEEN) has noticed is that the paper's online bloggers have been generating a lot of readers and revenue. The queen bee of the blog side of the paper is Della Frye (Rachel McAdams), who is a terrific writer but a terrible reporter. She values the scoop over getting the facts right the first time, and it drives Cal crazy. When a story breaks that a young woman working as a senior researcher for Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck, doing a great job of giving us equal parts creature of emotion and consummate politician) has been killed at a Metro station, the first reports on the blogosphere say that she was heartbroken after the married Collins broke off an affair and that she committed suicide. But the more Cal (who happens to be long-time friends with Collins) digs into both that story and a seemingly unrelated double murder in a less savory part of D.C., the more he begins to see pieces coming together is unexpected and unexplainable ways. He decides to use the clearly layered story as a teaching exercise for young Della and enlists her to help out with the reporting. The two make a pretty convincing team, and I appreciate that the filmmakers resisted the temptation to pair these two up romantically. It would have made for an unnecessary and unwelcome distraction from a story that demands our full attention. Going into too much detail about the plot from this point on would severely ruin the fun of watching it unfold and the many twists that the story takes. Yes, there are a few too many coincidences, and yes, it does seem like every lead Cal or Della find leads to something even more significant that the thing they were initially investigating (I would have liked at least one lead to dead end; real reporters know this happens more often than not). But the film succeeds because it's about the process of investigative reporting; it's as much about sitting in the office making phone calls as it is meeting mysterious sources in dark alley or in seedy bars. STATE OF PLAY features some great featured players as well, including Robin Wright Penn as Affleck's wife, who has her own history with Cal; Jeff Daniels as a senior member of Congress who would appear to be mentoring Collins through his troubling times; and particularly stellar work from Jason Bateman as a PR slickster who is far more ingrained in the affairs of government and other power brokers than he'd like to be. STATE OF PLAY feels about 85 percent authentic, which is better than most films about newspapers or newsmakers. A lot of the film takes place in the fictional offices of the DC paper, and seeing Cal and his team do actual work to find little bits of information in an effort to piece together the entire story is refreshing and fun. The film probably suffers from exactly one too many "holy shit" moments as things are wrapping up, but by then, I was already on board and willing to go where the train took me. Also, the film feels rushed at the end and desperate to wrap everything up and get all the revelations out on the table in the closing moments. I guess that's the price we pay for them doing such a great job taking their time watching the newsgathering process in the film first two thirds. There are no weak performances here. Initially, I thought McAdams might be out of her element, but she pulls through impressively. You can actually see key moments when her character is getting that her job is more than breaking news and eye-catching headlines. With relatively few lapses, the film is one seemingly made for intelligent people by intelligent people. It struck me as the film was wrapping up that you don't get that combination in movies much any more. -- Capone capone@aintitcoolmail.com
