***1/2 StarsState of Play is an excitingly taut and intelligent thriller. Russell Crowe leads an all-star cast in Kevin Macdonald's journalistic take on the corruption and scandals of the present day. Crowe plays Cal McAffrey, an old-school Washington Globe reporter on the brink of unveiling a breaking news story involving his old college roommate, Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) and his romantic involvement with a young intern. After the intern's apparent "suicide" at a metro station, Collins is thrown into the center of the media's attention, being labeled as the it-scandal of the moment, but things extend much deeper than what is scene from the public's eye.
Enter Cal McAffrey. McAffrey, along side Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) a young and eager Internet blogger, enter the underground workings of the judicial and legal conspiracies in an attempt to untangle a story that, quoting McAffrey "is as big and as connected as they get."
The movie is a fascinating account of the world of journalism and governmental corruption. Think All the President's Men meets 24. If you know me at all, that statement alone clearly shows my enthusiastic bias towards State of Play's elements and themes. Macdonald is the right director for this material (he directed Forrest Whitaker to Oscar gold in The Last King of Scotland) along with its perfect cast. Helen Mirren is wonderfully edgy and refreshingly funny as Cameron Lynne, McAffrey's boss and head of the newspaper. I thoroughly loved every scene that takes place inside the Globe's office. Again, there's that bias I've been telling you about. And you know what? I take absolute pride in it.
As each scene progresses, we are infinitely layered with the politics and human emotions behind what we of the public see as concrete fact. The movie brings into question a philosophical statement that I find truly compelling. With everything so insanely connected, people tend to forget that people, not machines, create all the media, propaganda, governmental scandals, possible national security threats, etc. of the present day. Sometimes when I watch the news, it is so hard to distinguish if truth is even a present ideal at all (and note to Fox News, your "Fair and Balanced" tagline is total crap and you sadly know it) and I think under this notion, State of Play knows exactly what it’s doing. It doesn't give away any real payoff because a real payoff is only a mere luxury the media world simply cannot afford.
Although the ending is a bit of a cop-out and perhaps a bit too twisty, it only comes after an expertly crafted and tightly climatic movie. I just put the original BBC series on Netflix and am anxiously awaiting its arrival.
Enter Cal McAffrey. McAffrey, along side Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) a young and eager Internet blogger, enter the underground workings of the judicial and legal conspiracies in an attempt to untangle a story that, quoting McAffrey "is as big and as connected as they get."
The movie is a fascinating account of the world of journalism and governmental corruption. Think All the President's Men meets 24. If you know me at all, that statement alone clearly shows my enthusiastic bias towards State of Play's elements and themes. Macdonald is the right director for this material (he directed Forrest Whitaker to Oscar gold in The Last King of Scotland) along with its perfect cast. Helen Mirren is wonderfully edgy and refreshingly funny as Cameron Lynne, McAffrey's boss and head of the newspaper. I thoroughly loved every scene that takes place inside the Globe's office. Again, there's that bias I've been telling you about. And you know what? I take absolute pride in it.
As each scene progresses, we are infinitely layered with the politics and human emotions behind what we of the public see as concrete fact. The movie brings into question a philosophical statement that I find truly compelling. With everything so insanely connected, people tend to forget that people, not machines, create all the media, propaganda, governmental scandals, possible national security threats, etc. of the present day. Sometimes when I watch the news, it is so hard to distinguish if truth is even a present ideal at all (and note to Fox News, your "Fair and Balanced" tagline is total crap and you sadly know it) and I think under this notion, State of Play knows exactly what it’s doing. It doesn't give away any real payoff because a real payoff is only a mere luxury the media world simply cannot afford.
Although the ending is a bit of a cop-out and perhaps a bit too twisty, it only comes after an expertly crafted and tightly climatic movie. I just put the original BBC series on Netflix and am anxiously awaiting its arrival.
No comments:
Post a Comment