State of Play

About a month before State of Play came into theaters, I read an article in The Washington Post (I live in the D.C. area) about the realism of the news industry as portrayed in the movie. One of the Post reporters... Full review

Character-wise, this movie doesn't have the complex figures of the best political thrillers. Dialogs are the brightest. Editing is great and the music's appropriate without being too prominent. But those are small quibbles when it comes to one of the most... Full review

I had heard State of Play, from a number of critics, would be one of those movies that started out good, had a strong first half, and then started turning predictable and whatnot in the 2nd. Turns out it's not quite... Full review

I had great expectations, and I was disappointed. The size and look of the long haired overweight pudgy Mr. Crowe did not work for me, and it did not work for my wife either. His PR group tries to suggest that... Full review

This movie is worth seeing just to watch great actors like Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren, & Rachel McAdams practice their craft. Add in a very good plot and a well written script and what you end up with is an excellent... Full review

Crowe brings his A game (despite an occasional accent slip) to his role as a world-weary reporter with the newly purchased Washington Globe, helmed by Helen Mirren's very engaging take on Perry White/Katharine Graham. If you like thrillers you won't be... Full review

Cal (Russell Crowe) and Stephen (Ben Affleck) have been buds since their college days. They still stay in touch, but their lives have taken two different paths. Stephen is an up-and-coming politico who has acquired the beautiful wife, Anne (Robin Wright... Full review

A gruff old-school reporter (Russell Crowe playing his A-game) becomes personally entangled in a breaking news story surrounding his old college buddy turned congressman (Ben Affleck, not as bas as you would think) and a young female aid who died under... Full review

Movie did a good job defining corruption in both corporate and government worlds. Unfortunately the Newspaper Reporter, (Crowe) character did little to show the Corruption of todays' the main street media. To think our News Reporters, have morality, give us a... Full review

AN ENTERTAINING MOVIE WITH GREAT ACTING,A PLOT THAT TWISTS AND TURNS INTELLIGENTLY, INTERTESTING CHARACTERS, AND DESPITE THE LIBERAL AGENDA INJECTIONS HERE AND THERE -- A BELIEVABLE PREMISE WHEN IT COMES TO THE CORRUPT POWER HUNGRY BUMS WE HAVE IN POLITICS. VERY... Full review

The video is great throughout the film....State of Play is a great political thriller that is not too hard to follow and enjoyable with some great acting.....The film has some very good performances with Ben Affleck as the know it all congressman who thinks he has everything under control.....transfer to Blu-ray is almost flawless with some great images in shots.....Russell Crowe gives a great performance and Rachel McAdams plays the hopeful reporter stuck at blogging very well for a great acting job..... ... Full Review

The video is great throughout the film....State of Play is a great political thriller that is not too hard to follow and enjoyable with some great acting.....State of Play is well worth a purchase with a few good extras and very good video and audio for the Blu-ray edition.....The film has some very good performances with Ben Affleck as the know it all congressman who thinks he has everything under control.....transfer to Blu-ray is almost flawless with some great images in shots..... ... Full Review

The film is truly a compelling team effort....It's a troubled cocktail of intent, marring an otherwise gripping mystery inspired by the great paranoia/journalism thrillers of the 1970s..... ... Full Review

some other motive may well have entered the picture.....The plot does suffer in translation.....The state of play has changed in the past six years, especially when it comes to newspapers, and the great thing about Kevin Macdonald's film is....As an actor he could never be called vain....Macdonald ( The Last King Of Scotland ) has fashioned an elegy in praise of old-fashioned newspapering..... ... Full Review

Compressed and remixed from the 2003 British TV mini-series of the same name, State of Play is a smart, slick and highly engrossing whodunnit.....the frenzied final act of State of Play pushes too hard for a pulse-pounding climax that isn't quite there.....Now Cal has his great story.....Cal believes that behind every good story there just might be a great one waiting to be told..... ... Full Review

Kevin Macdonald has revealed that his biggest obstacle during the making of State Of Play was to make it real. The Scottish filmmaker directed the political thriller, starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, which is based on the award-winning BBC... ... Full Article

A mature adult thriller such as State of Play is rare today. So it is worth celebrating its DVD and Blu-ray debut this week. Kevin Macdonald's film is superbly cast with Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Robin Wright Penn... ... Full Article

There are times when watching an actor or actress onscreen is absolutely painful, and not because their performance is bad. Sometimes it's just obvious that they're drawing on their personal lives to bring that character to life, and in this... ... Full Article

"State of Play" : The big-screen version of the acclaimed 2003 BBC miniseries "State of Play" loses a lot of the original's nuance but still manages to offer some solid, sophisticated entertainment. ... Full Article

There's a good chance State of Play (Universal Home Entertainment, $30 DVD, $40 Blu-ray) will be the last big-budget Hollywood movie about an investigative newspaper reporter. ... Full Article

Smarter than your average multiplex movie, the crime thriller "State of Play" (PG-13, $29.98) was directed by Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald ("One Day in September") and co-written by Oscar nominee Tony Gilroy ("Michael Clayton"). ... Full Article