State Of Play

State of Play, a political conspiracy thriller, is Kevin MacDonald’s first film since the gritty critically acclaimed The Last King of Scotland (2006). With its numerous references to Watergate (and a Bob Woodward cameo), MacDonald is obviously paying homage to the most famous of political thrillers - All The Presidents Men (1976).

After two seemingly unrelated events, a double homicide and a tragic accident, congressmen Steven Collins (Affleck) is informed that the second of those incidents involved his research assistant Sonia Baker. Within hours, revelations that the married Collins was having an affair with Sonia and that it may have been suicide rather than accident is the headline on every news channel. With nowhere else to turn Collins asks his former college roommate and now reporter Cal McAffrey (Crowe) for help. As McAffrey starts to dig further he quickly realises he may have stumbled on a political conspiracy involving those at the highest levels of public office.

The cinematography in State of Play is impressive at times, as is the dialogue. MacDonald manages to keep the audience interested throughout and there are some excellent moments in the film, including one particularly tense scene in an underground car park. However MacDonald fails to get the performances here that made The Last King of Scotland such a good movie and won Forest Whitaker an Oscar. While Crowe’s McAffrey comes across dedicated and principled and Affleck’s Collins as ambitious and a little morally ambiguous, MacDonald never really manages to get to the core of what drives these characters. Furthermore the friendship between the two never seems credible. In the supporting roles McAdams turns in a solid if unexceptional performance as McAffrey‘s colleague , while Helen Mirrens editor and Jeff Daniels congressman never offer more than platitudes. Jason Bateman stands out from the crowd in another fine performance as the sleazy Dominic Foy.

While the plot in State of Play is not exactly original, it does hit on some interesting issues such as the influence of the military-industrial complex in the US. It’s a pity that MacDonald chooses not to focus more on that theme. Perhaps much of the criticism stems from the slight sense of a missed opportunity. All the ingredients were present here for a great film and while we don’t get that we do get an enjoyable one, worth a trip to the cinema!

Rating: 3.5/5