Review of State of Play (2009) by Ypomoni — 04 Jul 2013

A good plot, even though not exactly original, with enough twists and turns to keep you watching without making your head spin. Based on a 5 hour BBC mini-series of the same name, and obviously having to omit a lot to condense into a film, you do not feel like there are unexplained aspects to the story by the end of it.

Kudos to all the actors involved. Crowe carries the film a last minute replacement for Pitt, you get the feeling that this would have been an entirely different film if Pitt were involved. Crowe is excellent as the scruffy, truth-seeking newspaper journalist. McAdams puts on a good performance as the young, talented, somewhat naive and yet ballsy, eager-to-learn newspaper blogger. Mirren is, as always, a treat to watch. Bateman's performance as a bisexual, sleazy "P.R" man is amazing. Why, even Afflect, as congressman Collins, is surprisingly good in this film! I've heard various comments about his performance here, but honestly this was a difficult role to play (many emotional aspects) and he delivered.

The pace of the movie was just right, up to the last minute, where the climatic ending you were probably waiting for never comes, and everything wraps up in a rather anti-climatic way. Still, Crowe typing away as the whole newsroom peer over his head, seems like a befitting ending. The truth has been told. Now it's up to the public to read about, in what appears to be the dying age of the newspaper.