State of Play (2009)
State of Play (USA) Directed by Kevin Macdonald. Written by Tony Gilroy; . Starring Russell Crowe; Ben Affleck; Rachel McAdams; Helen Mirren; Robin Wright Penn; Jason Bateman; Jeff Daniels; Viola Davis; Maria Thayer; Josh Mostel; Michael Weston
Based on the superior 2003 British mini series, State of Play is directed by Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void; One Day in September), a man who knows his way around a docudrama. Condensing the six hour BBC original, which starred Billy Nighy and Kelly Macdonald, the film tries to stuff a potpourri of ideas and plot threads into the mix, and there are times when the strain is felt from a few too many twists and turns.
Looking fittingly schlubby (bearded and overweight), Russell Crowe is solid in his role as Washington Globe reporter Cal McAffrey. With newspapers crumbling in cities across America, the idea of old school print journalism in competition with online reporting and blogging is a relevant topic worthy of a film of its own. Were this the only main idea at work here the film might have moved beyond the realm of the well-packaged, but overly slick Hollywood product it is. The fact that Tony Gilroy was involved in the script comes as no surprise as a similar energy to that of Bourne 1,2 & 3, Michael Clayton, and Duplicity (all beneficiaries of Gilroy’s writing talents - he also directed the latter two) is at work here.
Rachel McAdams is Della Frye, one of the new charges with the expensive computers - people, who in the eyes of a lifer like Cal, aren’t interested in getting the facts right and digging for comprehensive stories, they’re merely focused on offering knee-jerk opinions about the salacious topics of the day. Della, of course, winds up teaming with Cal on a story about his ex-college roommate and friend Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck), a US Congressman linked to a breaking sex scandal.
The story begins to unfold after a young woman working with the Congressman, Sonia Baker (Maria Thayer), is murdered, and it is revealed that she was having an affair with Collins. Collins happens to be chairing a sub-committee investigating a private corporate security firm, Point Corp, with an ingrained presence in the middle east (ala Halliburton) and billions in potential looming contracts. As Cal and Della dig deeper, questions arise as to Point Corp’s role in Sonia’s death, and the the possible extent they will go to hurt Collins and disrupt the hearings.
McAdams is fine in her role, although there isn’t so much as a spark between her cub reporter Della and the seasoned, grizzled vet, Cal. The same can be said for the square-jawed Affleck’s Collins and Cal, who seem more like distant acquaintances than long time pals. Granted, there are issues in their relationship contributing to the emotional void, but it’s perhaps also a problem that Crowe looks 8-10 years older than Affleck (despite the touches of grey in his hair), and Robin Wright Penn (Anne Collins) looks somewhere in the middle, despite the fact that presumably they’re supposed to all be around the same age.
The supporting cast is strong, and includes Helen Mirren as a feisty editor faced with a new ownership directive to sell newspapers, and of course generate ad revenue, putting more pressure on her than ever to beat the other media outlets to stories no matter the methodology. Unfortunately, many of the scenes with her and Crowe and McAdams wind of feeling somewhat cursory and well-trodden, as do the ones with the fellow reporters (Michael Weston; Josh Mostel) assigned to assist our mismatched duo, which reminds one of the research team (Oliver Platt; Steve Zahn) in Frost/Nixon. Jeff Daniels does a nice job as an icy politico; Jason Bateman does his thing as a sleazy PR guy; and the always watchable Wright Penn does well with the little given to her. Coming off her Academy Award nominated appearance in Doubt, we even see Viola Davis in another all too brief one scener as a medical examiner.
State of Play is entertaining enough, though, despite the rather mundane nature of the newspaper scenes that were included, there are times when one wishes the story had stayed grounded in the internal conflicts about the changing industry as opposed to veering off into action/thriller territory. One particular such scene in a parking garage is way over extended, and by the time the film is finished the result feels predictable and anti-climactic. The better drama may have found in the tale of the ongoing disintegration of a media institution. In fact, the final exit from the newsroom and the picture with credits that follows feels like a better ending than anything involved with para-military security companies or corrupt politicians. With that said, this is not All The President’s Men or Absence of Malice by a long shot.