About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2009)
“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
