Movie review: State of Play

by Alex Bentley

There are lot of interesting elements in the mix in State of Play, the least of which is the generically ambiguous title, which is apropos of nothing. Director Kevin Macdonald is making only his second fiction film (he also directed 2006's The Last King of Scotland) following years of documentary work. Then there are the three credited writers – Matthew Michael Carnahan (The Kingdom), Tony Gilroy (the Bourne series, Michael Clayton), and Billy Ray (Breach) – each of whom could teach a Thriller 101 class.

But the most fascinating thing about the film is its focus on the newspaper industry, or rather, the deteriorating nature of it. Russell Crowe plays Cal McAffrey, an old-school reporter for the (fictional) Washington Globe. The film firmly establishes McAffrey as the man-on-the-street, guy-who-knows-everybody type right away (albeit in an ultra-clichéd way by having him softly bribe a cop by bringing him coffee in exchange for info on a murder). McAffrey's foil is Della Frye (Rachel McAdams), who, in a nod to the times, is an eager blogger for the paper's website rather than an eager cub reporter.

Frye starts sniffing around the story of the death of a female aide to Rep. Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck). Collins, of course, happens to be McAffrey's old college roommate and one of his closest friends. Before you know it, McAffrey's murder and Frye's death stories become connected, so McAffrey takes Frye under his wing to show her how down-and-dirty reporting is actually done (and, no, that's not a euphemism).

However, as the story moves along, it's pretty easy to tell that the film had more cooks than needed to be in the kitchen. For one, the connection between the two cases is treated as a “surprise” not once, but twice, when only an inexperienced movie watcher couldn't have put the pieces together from the start. Also, by the end of the film, it's easier to count the people who haven't done bad deeds than those who have. One screenwriter might've settled for a relatively simple story, but the three combined obviously decided to empty out their respective bags of tricks.

All of the main actors do fine jobs in their roles, though some are better suited than others. Crowe is just shaggy and disheveled enough to be believable as the grizzled McAffrey. Though McAdams is actually a little old at this point to portray an up-and-comer, her big eyes and bright smile help her pull it off. Affleck is surprisingly solid as a Congressman, but he's not really required to give the role that much gravitas. Helen Mirren is good as the paper's editor, though it's hard to envision the woman who played the Queen of England as the head of a paper. Jason Bateman has a small pivotal role, but he's a tad miscast as a slimy PR guy. And Viola Davis (who earned a freakin' Oscar nomination for her role in Doubt) is utterly wasted in a throwaway cameo as a coroner.

The makers of State of Play obviously have a great respect/nostalgia for the old ways of newspaper journalism, but they don't come close to classics like All the President's Men. Much of the film is edge-of-your-seat stuff, but it's slightly undone by not knowing when to say when.