DVD Review: State of Play

Posted Aug 31, 2009 by Kevin Walker

Updated Aug 31, 2009 at 03:11 PM

“State of Play”
Stars: Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright Penn
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Rated: PG-13
Running time: 127 minutes
Release date: Sept. 1
My take: Just so depressing. I mean, here’s a story that basically pays homage to investigative newspaper journalism, while also making it clear that the glory days are far behind us. Crowe’s character, a reporter for the “Washington Globe,” unearths a conspiracy involving congressmen and a private defense contractor, using tried-and-true methods liking working sources, digging up documents and pretending to know more than he actually knows when required. It’s great stuff, but as a person who spent 15 years covering hard news for newspapers, it made me nostalgic and sad. But there were also laughs, like when McAdams’ character, a blogger, decides to hold a story because “I think people need to have ink on their fingers when they read this.” Bah-ha ha ha! That would never happen. Anyway, the movie is very good and won’t depress those who don’t work in the newspaper industry.
Who will like: Those who like political thrillers, newspaper people who don’t mind feeling a bit sad. Make sure you stay for the final shots over the credits, in which director Macdonald follows the creation of a newspaper from beginning to end. Jason Bateman’s bit part is a classic and Affleck seems to have a found a happy place and is back to giving good performances.