[6.75/10] State of Play (2009)

State of Play (2009)

"State of Play" was a reasonably good political thriller. It kind of plods along slowly, picking up speed toward the middle and then kind of dies a little at the end. It lacks that 'punch' of a great thriller and you kind of saw well okay in the end instead of 'wow'. The actors all have great help from a well-written script that affords all of them to shine. Russel Crowe is the center of the tale as a scrappy newspaper reporter, slovenly and overweight, who doesn't care if he has to risk his life to help a friend, played by Ben Affleck, caught up in a political scandal. He and Affleck dominate the proceedings, each delivering forceful performances. Rachel McAdams is delightful as another nervy reporter, who becomes Crowe's sidekick and wants to help him get to the bottom of a mystery involving the death of a mysterious young woman with close connections to a corrupt corporation. Helen Mirren as a tough no-nonsense newspaper boss, Jeff Daniels as a sleazy congressman with too much power and Jason Bateman as a smooth operator who talks too much - all of them are pretty good. Overall, for entertainment purposes it was okay; not something you'd yawn and fall asleep watching, although you might be confused here and there. Through the gimmicks of hyped-up music and sound effects here and there, the suspense was evident throughout the two-plus hours. It's also an interesting look at today's battle between old and new 'media', meaning newspapers and the Internet, respectively.

• My Rating: 6.75/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 84% (6.9/10)
• IMDb: 7.4/10