Newspaper Page Text
“Goin’ to
the Show...
♦♦
with...
Roland
Willis
STATE OF PLAY-
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel Adams,
Helen Mirren & Robin Wright Penn
Directed by Kevin Macdonald
Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy,
Billy Ray & Paul Abbott
Running Time: 1 hour, 58 minutes
Rated PG-13 - Violence
THE ISLANDER, APRIL 27, 2009, PAGE 11
Based upon Paul Abbott’s highly
acclaimed BBC series and directed by
Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald (1999
Best Documentary Feature, One Day
in September), with the screenplay
written by Michael Carnahan (The
Kingdom), Tony Gilroy (Michael Clay
ton) and Billy Ray (Flight Plan) and
starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck
and Helen Mirren, State of Play has all
the ingredients for a great movie, and I
am happy to report that you will not be
disappointed.
This movie is a murder mystery
drama entangled in political corrup
tion in Washington and the death
throws of a major newspaper.
The Washington Globe is run by the
hard-headed Cameron Lynne (Helen
Mirren). New owners are demanding
that the newspaper turn a profit but
faced with the rise of the Internet and
the consequent drop in circulation, this
is a difficult task.
It is especially difficult because
newspapers still employ old-time
reporters who believe that the stories
they publish ought to be verifiably
true.
Cal McCaffrey (Russell Crowe) is
such a reporter and he covers the
crime scene for the Globe. He is, of
course, street smart but could also be
easily mistaken for a street bum with
unkempt, straggly hair and hideous
clothing; the type of clothing that the
charity shops throw out in despair
after its been on their shelves for five
years.
Maybe he dresses this way so that
he is instantly recognized by the cops
and readily admitted to their crime
scenes.
The movie starts with a professional
hit on a poor black kid and a pizza
delivery man who saw the killer.
There immediately follows a tragic
accident in the metro of a congressio
nal aide, Sonia Baker (Maria Thayer).
Sonia has been the lead researcher
for Congressman Steven Collins in his
investigation into the profits made by
a company called PointCorp which
has been a major contractor in Iraq
involved in, among other things, pro
viding security for government person
nel.
As you know, the soldiers on the
ground are understandably upset with
this crowd.
Not only are these security guards,
usually ex-soldiers, getting exorbitant
pay for the same job as the impover
ished grunts, they do not have to follow
the military code of conduct and liter
ally get away with murder.
But that is another story.
As I said, the soldiers are very upset
with this crowd. Congressman Col
lins has been in the army and is tak
ing this grievance to his congressional
hearings investigating the activity of
PointCorp.
The sudden death of his chief
researcher immediately sets off alarm
bells in McCaffrey’s mind, especially
when he stumbles across a connec
tion between the professional hits and
Sonia’s death.
Then word leaks out that Collins
has been having an affair with Sonia.
McCaffrey and Collins are close
friends since the days when they shared
a room in college, so McCaffrey’s reac
tion is to use his journalistic experience
to help Collins weather this storm.
It helps that McCaffrey is really,
really friendly with Collins’s wife
Anne, played by Robin Wright Penn,
who you will remember was one of For
rest Gump’s more interesting varieties
from his box of chocolates.
McCaffrey has a young blogger,
Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) as his
assistant and they make a pretty good
team.
The director Kevin Macdonald, who
also directed Forest Whitaker’s Oscar
winning performance in The Last King
of Scotland, keeps building the tension
as the plot twists and weaves.
In the end, nothing is what it
seems.
Interestingly, Brad Pitt and Edward
Norton were originally chosen to play
the lead roles and would have been
paired together for the first time since
Fight Club. Unfortunately the screen
writers’ strike and scheduling conflicts
cancelled this appealing combination.
Russell Crowe gives a fine, under
stated, restrained performance when it
would have been quite easy for him to
overplay this role.
Unfortunately, Ben Affleck is no
Edward Norton, and gives his usual
wooden, emotionless performance.
Jeff Daniels oils his way across the
scene as Rep. George Fergus, the kind
of corrupt politician that we all love to
hate; you know... God, Country and a
little bribery on the side.
State of Play is a fine movie. My rat
ing is A. □
GET BACK 2
HEALTH
ADVANCE
REHABILITATION
physical mm
Advance Rehabilitation is diligent and steadfast
in the pursuit of the highest quality care, and
continues to rank in the 99th percentile for
patient satisfaction through Press Ganey.
• Physical Therapy •Athletic Training
• Sports Medicine • Industrial Medicine
St. Simons
124 Island Professional Park ~ 912.638.1444
Brunswick ~ 4204 Coral Park Dr. ~ 912.280.9205
