Column:
Journalistic backdrop sets 'State of Play' apart
'State of Play' stands out despite its overdone political thriller plot.
Published April 20, 2009
You've seen "State of Play" before. You've seen it when it was called "All the President's Men," and you've seen it when it was acclaimed as "Michael Clayton." You've even seen it as this year's season of "24." It is a highly derivative affair.
And like so much media these days, it is both an adaptation (of a 2003 BBC miniseries) and focused primarily on the modern world's most common fears: evermore powerful private corporations and shadowy government dealings. Bullets whiz out of dark corners, assassins kill like soulless husks and politicians are never up to any good. But thankfully, no matter how derivative its umbrella plot might be, "State of Play" breaks ranks in just enough places to stand out as its own movie and a decent adult thriller.
Its main differing factor is that unlike recent politicos, "The International," or the "Bourne" trilogy, "Play" is not based inside a government agency but instead a Washington newspaper. With the swift death of the newspaper industry, its high-dollar, deep resourced "Washington Globe" appears even more out of date than it would have six months ago, and as an ideal that no longer exists, it still offers up a welcome change of pace from the dank government offices we've grown accustomed to in our thrillers. We believe it's an anthill teeming with life and importance, even if real life newspapers have lacked both for quite some time now.
It is from here that Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) and Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) investigate the death of Sonia Baker, an aide to Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck), who's investigating the Blackwater-like PointCorp. To complicate things, McAffrey and Collins are practically best friends. The setup makes for many unique and entertaining complications below the film's by-the-numbers umbrella, and probes questions about journalistic integrity and friendship in surprisingly thorough ways.
It's a plot that would collapse under the audience's boredom if not for the film's top-to-bottom excellent cast. Crowe, who appears to have actually not phoned it in for the first time in a while, is excellent as the old-school, fun-loving McAffrey, and McAdams continues to show why she's hailed as the future of acting as his brainy, but naïve blogging partner. Watching her learn on the job from the seasoned Crowe is a true delight.
But it is Jason Bateman as a smarmy, creepy PR executive and Jeff Daniels as an evil rival congressman to Collins who steal the show. Bateman turns the camp up to 10, and his 15 minutes of screen time are easily the loosest and most enjoyable. And Daniels is the epitome of pure evil as his far-gone congressman who'll do anything to get what he wants.
"Play" goes out with a bit of a whimper with its "surprise" ending, and Affleck doesn't rise much above being Ben Affleck, but in the end "State of Play" carves out its own piece of the political thriller ground and makes for a pretty damn enjoyable two hours.