State of Play (2009)
These modern times have a lot of people feeling down this spring, and Hollywood has tried to remedy that with an always heavy dose of ho-hum crumbs from the simple table. If a good stiff prairie oyster is needed for us to wake up and smell the coffee, it comes in the form of State of Play (2009). Directed by Kevin Macdonald (who helmed the excellent The Last King of Scotland (2006)) and based on the BBC miniseries, the film is a smart, exciting, aesthetic, and extremely thought provoking slap in the face for a time where we should probably be paying more attention to the world around us.
While most quasi-political thriller/dramas as of late fall into either a military or police category, State of Play engages both but grounds it all with journalism. It’s the kind of film that focuses on something that is always out of focus in this age of media sensationalism and corporatization. Russell Crowe, fresh and still fat from his Americanized Screwtape character in Body of Lies (2008), plays Cal McAffrey, an old school journalist with the Washtington Globe who starts following a seemingly inconsequential double shooting incident. Soon after, a young and beautiful woman dies under questionable circumstances in the subway. The woman is a research aid and secret lover of Cal’s friend Stephen Collins (Played by a restrained Ben Affleck), a poster boy congressman in the midst of leading an inquiry into PointCorp, a private military level security force (hello Blackwater). In the mist of it all is the young aspiring blog journalist Della Frye (the beautiful and angelic Rachael McAdams), who is quick to leak the story and even quicker to piss off Cal. Hungry yet? Under the migraine induced orders from their boss Cameron Lynne (an icy and iron clad Helen Mirren), Cal and Della team up and start connecting the dots.
And so begins their journey into a labyrinth of lies, liars, lying liars, sheep, wolves, sheep in wolves clothing, wolves in sheep clothing, and dare I say blue elephants and red donkeys, all the while adding their own tunnels to the mix in pursuit of a truth that is somewhere down there. All in all it almost should be called Body of Lies; or Body of Lies 2: More Lies; or 2 Body 2 Lies; or Body of Lies: Washington Spin; I mean it already has a fat Russell Crowe. Oh well, it’s just another day in D.C.! Crowe and McAdams portray their characters with effortless conviction. Cal is the old analog guy hanging onto his job using his guerrilla tactics, and Della is the young digital girl trying to make it in journalism. Together they are a strong but not perfect team, as everyone has their own agenda to get the job done.
On the surface, State of Play is about finding the truth in a world that treats truth like nuclear waste. Underneath it all, however, the film is about survivalism. Whether it’s for career, story, integrity, image, ideals, country, or even just life, every character is fighting to survive in the face of an uncertain future (a feeling echoed with such sincerity in a cameo by an excellent Jason Bateman). Nothing rings truer for the journalists, as the Globe itself is fighting to survive in its analog state when no one reads newspapers anymore. Having been present in both Denver and Seattle when they both recently lost their papers, I could feel the absolute devastation among those who still cared. It’s a weight known all too well to Cal and Cameron, with their weathered emotions betraying their attempts to mask the fear of becoming both obsolete and/or bankrupt. Of course, the victim in all of this is the truth itself, because if spin can generate a great story…
Those who were smart enough to view the excellent Gone Baby Gone (2007) know the true conundrum between what’s right and what’s best; multiply that by a bucket of chicken and you get the final conflict in State of Play. The film gets fairly convoluted close to the end, but the point is not the management of truth in the interim, it’s the final print that counts, and that is surprisingly crystal clear.
In the cine-gumbo of spring, there are a few nice chunks of meat (or shrimp), but most of it is just broth and, therefore, not very filling; it really seems like a free-for-all before the blockbuster buffet of summer. Food analogies aside, we are all trying to find decent films to get lost in right now while we wait for the fast approaching summer of soma. Food analogies onside now, there is a tasty morsel to be found with State of Play, but it’s one that will not be so forgiving the morning after! But at least it seems that Russell Crowe is not going hungry!
These modern times have a lot of people feeling down this spring, and Hollywood has tried to remedy that with an always heavy dose of ho-hum crumbs from the simple table. If a good stiff prairie oyster is needed for us to wake up and smell the coffee, it comes in the form of State of Play (2009). Directed by Kevin Macdonald (who helmed the excellent The Last King of Scotland (2006)) and based on the BBC miniseries, the film is a smart, exciting, aesthetic, and extremely thought provoking slap in the face for a time where we should probably be paying more attention to the world around us.
While most quasi-political thriller/dramas as of late fall into either a military or police category, State of Play engages both but grounds it all with journalism. It’s the kind of film that focuses on something that is always out of focus in this age of media sensationalism and corporatization. Russell Crowe, fresh and still fat from his Americanized Screwtape character in Body of Lies (2008), plays Cal McAffrey, an old school journalist with the Washtington Globe who starts following a seemingly inconsequential double shooting incident. Soon after, a young and beautiful woman dies under questionable circumstances in the subway. The woman is a research aid and secret lover of Cal’s friend Stephen Collins (Played by a restrained Ben Affleck), a poster boy congressman in the midst of leading an inquiry into PointCorp, a private military level security force (hello Blackwater). In the mist of it all is the young aspiring blog journalist Della Frye (the beautiful and angelic Rachael McAdams), who is quick to leak the story and even quicker to piss off Cal. Hungry yet? Under the migraine induced orders from their boss Cameron Lynne (an icy and iron clad Helen Mirren), Cal and Della team up and start connecting the dots.
And so begins their journey into a labyrinth of lies, liars, lying liars, sheep, wolves, sheep in wolves clothing, wolves in sheep clothing, and dare I say blue elephants and red donkeys, all the while adding their own tunnels to the mix in pursuit of a truth that is somewhere down there. All in all it almost should be called Body of Lies; or Body of Lies 2: More Lies; or 2 Body 2 Lies; or Body of Lies: Washington Spin; I mean it already has a fat Russell Crowe. Oh well, it’s just another day in D.C.! Crowe and McAdams portray their characters with effortless conviction. Cal is the old analog guy hanging onto his job using his guerrilla tactics, and Della is the young digital girl trying to make it in journalism. Together they are a strong but not perfect team, as everyone has their own agenda to get the job done.
On the surface, State of Play is about finding the truth in a world that treats truth like nuclear waste. Underneath it all, however, the film is about survivalism. Whether it’s for career, story, integrity, image, ideals, country, or even just life, every character is fighting to survive in the face of an uncertain future (a feeling echoed with such sincerity in a cameo by an excellent Jason Bateman). Nothing rings truer for the journalists, as the Globe itself is fighting to survive in its analog state when no one reads newspapers anymore. Having been present in both Denver and Seattle when they both recently lost their papers, I could feel the absolute devastation among those who still cared. It’s a weight known all too well to Cal and Cameron, with their weathered emotions betraying their attempts to mask the fear of becoming both obsolete and/or bankrupt. Of course, the victim in all of this is the truth itself, because if spin can generate a great story…
Those who were smart enough to view the excellent Gone Baby Gone (2007) know the true conundrum between what’s right and what’s best; multiply that by a bucket of chicken and you get the final conflict in State of Play. The film gets fairly convoluted close to the end, but the point is not the management of truth in the interim, it’s the final print that counts, and that is surprisingly crystal clear.
In the cine-gumbo of spring, there are a few nice chunks of meat (or shrimp), but most of it is just broth and, therefore, not very filling; it really seems like a free-for-all before the blockbuster buffet of summer. Food analogies aside, we are all trying to find decent films to get lost in right now while we wait for the fast approaching summer of soma. Food analogies onside now, there is a tasty morsel to be found with State of Play, but it’s one that will not be so forgiving the morning after! But at least it seems that Russell Crowe is not going hungry!
3.5/5
S. McSmoke-Smoke
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