State of Play

Kathleen Murphy, Special to MSN Movies, calls State of Play 'Sex, Lies and Newsprint'. I couldn't agree more. Helen Mirren is impressive as forthright newspaper editor Cameron, driven to keep her paper relative in an age of blogs, IM, and other instantaneous media. Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) is her lead reporter, and a very good friend of U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck). Complicating this friendship is Collins' wife (Robin Wright Penn). She and McAffrey slept together in college and now she can't seem to decide if she wants to stay with Collins or take up with McAffrey. McAffrey's big story: Collins' mistress has just been found murdered. To make sure McAffrey keeps his personal relationships from tainting the story Cameron also assigns a junior reporter and blogger Della (Rachel McAdams) to the story. Della is a very young and attractive Monk to McAffrey's sage and tossled Columbo. Keep a sharp eye out for Jeff Daniels as a senior legislator, his portrayal of a sage politician using any situation to his own advantage is perfect. Ben Affleck has matured nicely and is very believable as the clean-cut “rising star” legislator, who is not without faults and secrets. This flick has lots of great actors, but Crowe gives the story momentum and depth as a reporter caught in this untenable situation. P.S. I found it interesting to learn from Ms. Murphy, after I saw this movie, that it is based on a 2003 BBC miniseries.
Check it out...To search the Nesmith Library catalog for movies with your favorite actors : From the library website choose the "Library Catalog" then type "last name, first" then click on "author". You'll find 6 each of Ben Affleck's, Russell Crowe's, and Robin Wright Penn's movies, 1 with Rachel McAdams, and 10 Helen Mirren flicks.

Poster courtesy of MSN Movies