Tuesday, September 07th | CinemaSpartan.com | www.cinemaspartan.com
2:10

Interview with Brigitte Berman

Brigitte Berman, whose last full-length documentary was nearly twenty-five years ago, took home the Oscar for her look at the prolific Artie Shaw. Since then she has culled drama from her fingertips by creating fiction. Now, almost three decades later, the Canadian filmmaker releases a feature-length documentary that took three-years to make.  A kaliedescope of [...]
2:24

Interview with Justin Bartha

Justin Bartha’s character, one of moody intrigue and gaudy affluence, is a brash menace in director Kevin Asch’s “Holy Rollers.” Playing the role of a seedy, unapologetic man named Yosef, who has veered so far from his faith that the traditional Hasidic attire he dresses in serves only a reminder of his former virtuousness. Yosef [...]

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State of Play

Published on Sat, 18/04/09 | Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller, Written By: Andrew Younger
Tags: , ,

Apparently Government Is Corrupt

State of Play

Starring: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams

Written by: Andrew Younger

Performing his best Alan J. Pakula impersonation circa 1974, director Kevin MacDonald’s latest offering addresses journalistic integrity in the wake of political decay and corporate conspiracy before surrendering complex social commentary to cheap plot twists and easy resolutions. In the midst of congressional hearings into PointCorp, a Blackwater-esque overseas paramilitary operation, committee chairman Congressman Stephen Collins’ (Affleck) lead researcher is struck and killed by a Washington metro. Collins’ public display of grief at the loss of his staffmember brings forth a torrent of allegations regarding his extramarital relations with her.

Publicly discredited and grief-stricken, Collins turns to his former college roommate and Washington Globe reporter Cal McAffrey (Crowe) for spin control. As Cal begins to investigate the dead staffmember in order to restore Collins’ public image, Washington Globe management send in plucky blogger-turned-journalist Della Frye (McAdams) to actively damage it through her sensationalist columns about the congressman’s failed marriage in order to sell newspapers. Yet, both Cal and Della begin to realize that this story involves a conspiracy on an unprecedented scale. Personal loyalties are torn by ethical professionalism against a backdrop of corporate media takeovers and auctions of civil liberties.

Condensed from a six-hour British miniseries, the first ninety minutes of State of Play easily rank among the 1970s political thrillers it so desperately attempts to emulate. Yet, with integrity at the crux of the film, it is ironic that the filmmakers sacrificed the final act of their film for an unnecessary payoff with a plot twist that degenerates into misanthropy and negates the social commentary they worked so hard to achieve. Great political thrillers, while unique to the era in which they are filmed, are timeless. This film could have been this generation’s answer to The Conversation or The Parallax View. Instead, we receive an entertaining, yet forgettable way to spend two hours.

3/5

One Response to “State of Play”

  1. Joker Says:

    Hello,
    Interesting, I`ll quote it on my site later.


    April 20th, 2009 at 2:33 pm

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