“State of Play” is a great twisting thriller that will keep you guessing ’till the end.

This is a movie that worked on soo many levels.  On the surface: good drama, good acting, good twists and surprises make up a great story.  But underneath this story takes the basic perception of modern politics: twists and spins of the truth combined with the basic idea of journalism: the search for the truth and mixes them together in a great work of cinema. 

Russell Crowe shines as the journalist (his last performance in “Body of Lies” was not as strong) searching for the truth and Ben Affleck holds his own as the other main character – the politician at the center of a high profile Washington, D.C. scandal.

The supporting cast is very strong from newspaper editor Helen Mirren, to cub reporter Rachael McAdams, Michigan’s own Jeff Daniels as a senior senator, Harry Lennix as the Detective, and Jason Bateman as… well, I don’t want to ruin it for you.

The acting is top notch, the suspense and tension are very palpable, and just when you think you have it all figured out… keep watching.

Its nice to see a movie with a slightly more realistic view of journalism as it takes more than one scene, phonecall, or interview to track down the story.

My only real criticism is the heavy-handed “conspiracy theory” theme running through the movie.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

this is one of the first movies of the year (couple others I haven’t seen yet) to be on the Oscar nomination radar, its a strong contender, at this very early stage of the race… I give it 8.0 out of 10.

 “State of Play”

(2009) (rated: PG-13 for some violence, language including sexual references, and brief drug content)
(2 hr, 7 min)

Starring: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright Penn, Jeff Daniels, Harry Lennix, Jason Bateman, Barry Shabaka Henley, David Harbour, Josh Mostel,  Maria Thayer, Michael Berresse, Michael Weston, Sarah Lord, Viola Davis

Director: Kevin Macdonald

Genre: Drama/Political/Thriller

The Plot: A team of investigative reporters work alongside a police detective to try to solve the murder of a congressman’s mistress.

So what did you think?  Please post a comment!

 
“State of Play” poster courtesy Universal Pictures

 ** CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MY OTHER MOVIE REVIEWS **

 Follow my updates on twitter: http://twitter.com/aaronlafferty

Add to your RSS feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/woodtv8-blogs-laff-at-the-movies?format=html

YouTube Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=WOODTV8&view=videos&query=laff+at+the+movies