Monday, September 14, 2009

State of Play - DVD Review

***

Starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Penn, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, Viola Davis and Harry Lennix.
Directed by Kevin MacDonald.

This love-letter to the newspaper industry is a dying breed of its own - an intelligent adult thriller.

Crowe's the hard-nosed, shaggy-haired reporter. Affleck's his former college roommate, and also happens to be a U.S. Senator. When the good senator's mistress winds up dead, the two try to figure out who would have killed her and why. I enjoyed the thrill of the discovery, of actual investigation. It reminded me of All the President's Men in that respect.

The last five minutes were a bit of a letdown for me.

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