State of Play
In 2003 the BBC created a thriller that instantly received critical acclaim from many of Britain’s newspapers. Now Hollywood has got its mitts on it.

In 2003 the BBC created a thriller that instantly received critical acclaim from many of Britain’s newspapers. Now Hollywood has got its mitts on it and moved the centre of the attention away from Westminster and into the world of Washington DC and Capitol Hill.

The film revolves around Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), an experienced reporter with the Washington Globe. Whilst McAffrey is investigating a series of deaths his former friend from college and Congressman, Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck), receives the news that his mistress has died in mysterious circumstances on the subway. McAffrey tries to help his friend by spinning the news coverage but in the process makes a lot of very uncomfortable discoveries and, with the help of his young and attractive assistant Della Frye (Rachel McAdams), unravels plots and conspiracy within Washington.

The main draw of the film, certainly at the American box office, will be its cast of big names and on the whole they deliver. Russell Crowe gives the strong performance that is now expected of him in the lead role and Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams fit comfortably into their characters. The big disappointment, however, was Helen Mirren, playing the editor of the newspaper. She was clearly hindered by a script that painted her as an English stereotype.

The plot of the film is typical of a thriller. It is filled with twists and turns that, at some points, grip you. Unfortunately it doesn’t really have you on the edge of your seat and at times it did seem a little chaotic and clunky. By the time the two hours was up I was left a little exhausted, trying to catch up with all that had happened. It may be that it was more appropriate to fit all the twists into six one hour episodes rather than trying to condense them.

This film was quite entertaining and enjoyable but failed to completely draw me in. I get the distinct feeling that it would have worked far better on the small screen where the story would have been allowed to run and the characterisation would have had time to develop, rather than being drowned by plot. I would recommend seeing it if you have nothing better to do – but it isn’t worth locking yourself in the dark away from all the nice weather we’ve been having recently.

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