Review of State of Play (2009) by Chads — 20 Apr 2009

To underline the increasing irrelevance of the newspaper in our everyday lives, the filmmaker shrewdly undercuts Cal McAffrey's bloated sense of self-worth with editing choices which democratizes the working relationship that the seasoned reporter has with "His Online Girl Friday".

In another era, when newspapers were thriving, this subdued scene would have been much ado about something. As Cal(Russell Crowe) pulls Della Frye(Rachel McAdams) out of a meeting, her online colleagues give her only a cursory look and continue forward with their conversations without the slightest notion of envy visible on their faces.

By the standards of the past, Della, a blogger(an intern of sorts), is a proper journalist now, but as the cub reporter speaks to her experienced mentor, nobody behind the glassed-in conference room looks all that impressed.

A lot has changed in the fifteen years since Ron Howard's "The Paper" was released into theaters. "State of Play" is a love letter to the newspaper industry, but if you read between the lines, it reads like a "Dear John" letter.

Case and point: a veteran writer such as Cal, in all likelihood, would be hesitant to share his byline with a rookie, but "State of Play" has cheating on its mind. While it sings the praises of old school journalism, the film privileges the enemy, the blogger, by giving her more credit than she deserves.

Cal doesn't give Della co-authorship on his article, "State of Play" does. Finally, when Cal leaves the newsroom, his triumphant walk pass the cubicles is spoiled, as Della hogs some of his spotlight, symbolically denying hard news journalists like Cal and his ilk, a graceful bow from the public sector.