DVD in focus: State of Play (2009)

Directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), and set in Washington DC, State of Play aspires, in some ways, to be this generation’s All the President’s Men—albeit in fictional form. The film stars Russell Crowe as Cal McAffrey, a hard-edged, seasoned reporter at The Washington Globe newspaper and Ben Affleck as Stephen Collins, an influential congressman. The two are old friends, having met in college. Rachel McAdams is Della Frye, a newly-hired blogger at The Globe trying to break her first hard news story.

The film opens with the murder of a homeless teen by a dark, ominous man using a silenced handgun. A random bystander on a bike happens by and is also shot. McAffrey arrives on scene the next morning as police investigate, assigned to the story, but there aren’t many clues.

The setting then shifts to a young woman standing on a subway platform waiting for the train. That woman, we later learn, is Sonia Baker, a top aide to Collins. She is also the lead researcher on Collins’ investigation into PointCorp, a private military contractor with several huge, questionable Defense Department contracts; moreover, she’s also Collins’ mistress, further complicating matters. The camerawork suggests something ominous is about to befall her on that platform, but before it does, the scene again shifts and we learn in the next scene that she’s fallen into an oncoming subway train and died.

Collins is inconsolable when he finds out. Her death is ruled a suicide, but he knows better and turns to McAffry for help proving it. McAffrey, after being paired with Frye, is assigned by his editor, Cameron Lynne (Helen Mirren), to cover this story too. With Collin’s assistance, the pair slowly uncover evidence to suggest that Baker’s death and the murder at the film’s beginning are connected. As clues pile up, they lead to evidence of a conspiracy to marginalize anyone endangering PointCorp's lucrative government contracts.

State of Play is glossy and slick, with an ample budget and an A-list cast that earns every penny. There’s nary a weak performance and the actors create a strong dynamic amongst themselves that elevates the overall effect. Even among this strong cast however, Helen Mirren is a standout in her supporting role as the Globe’s editor and chief. Robin Wright Penn is also good in her small part as Congressman Collin’s stand-by-your-man wife, who isn’t quite as forbearing as she appears. Jeff Daniels and Jason Bateman are both good in supporting roles and Russell Crowe reminds why he’s one of Hollywood’s most in-demand leading men.

Despite the strong performances however, State of Play borders on overly mechanical, with its perfunctory plot twists and an overall quality that, at times, feels generic. That likely owes to the fact that, like much A-list fare, it strives to appeal to as vast an audience as possible. The film is engaging but the final plot twist, for me, felt unnecessary, like an afterthought tacked on simply to wow the audience one last time. The twists that come before are believable, but State of Play could have been stronger with a more streamlined narrative, focusing less on gimmick and more on advancing the story in its logical direction. That final twist renders much of what comes before meaningless and, despite a minor plot point involving the Watergate Hotel, echoes of All the President’s Men are mostly forgotten. In addition, the opportunity to explore traditional print media's evolution into the internet age is mostly ignored. Overall, though State of Play is well-acted and nicely paced, it seems to lack faith in both its story and its audience. Moderately recommended.

Score 6/10

Starring: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Penn, Jason Bateman, Helen Mirren, Jeff Daniels, Josh Mostel, Michael Weston, Barry Shabaka Henley, Viola Davis

Directed by: Kevin MacDonald