State of Play
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours, 7 minutes
Directed by: Kevin MacDonald
Starring:
Russell Crowe - Cal McAffrey
Ben Affleck - Stephen Collins
Rachel McAdams - Della Frye
Helen Mirren - Cameron Lynne
Robin Wright Penn - Anne Collins
Jason Bateman - Dominic Foy
Jeff Daniels - George Fergus
Sometimes we can do it better. Usually our remakes are inferior products attempting to cash-in on someone else's creativity and established success but sometimes we can take a quality product and actually improve upon it. Such is the case with Matthew Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, and Billy Ray's adaptation of the BBC mini-series, State of Play. Using the story's outline of a reporter trying to discover the truth behind the death of an aide to his friend and up-and-coming congressman, the adaptation of State of Play updates the story to include current-and-major events including the rise of online journalism and military privatization.
Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) is a veteran reporter for The Washington Globe investigating a bizarre double-murder (which is the opening scene of the film and director Kevin MacDonald barely saves it from crossing into the unintentionally comic). At the same time, Congressman Stephen Collins' (Ben Affleck) chief researcher falls onto the subway tracks in an apparent suicide. Blogger and neophyte journalist Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) follows this thread and soon McAffrey and Frye realize that these deaths are related and part of an elaborate conspiracy involving affairs, betrayals, and attempts to derail Collins' attempts at investigating the private military organization "PointCorp" (every time I heard their name, my mind automatically it with their real-world counterpart, "Blackwater" or as they now call themselves, "Xu"). It's a smart and well-crafted plot that's smart enough to keep you as an active viewer but not so elaborate that it caves in on itself (except for perhaps the ending which is thematically interesting but is disappointing from a narrative standpoint).
What's most admirable about State of Play is not only how it stays current without creating the sense that it will be dated in five years (the struggle for in-depth reporting isn't going anywhere nor is our conflict with nightmarish military contractors who are fighting our wars but exist outside our jurisdiction), but how it cuts a lot of the fat from the BBC series which, while smart and brilliantly acted, included needless sub-plots like McAffrey's affair with Collins' wife. There's a semblance of that plot with Robin Wright Penn as Collins' wife and while it still slows the film down, the story doesn't become mired in their relationship since it doesn't develop beyond the regrets they both share over their past and the attraction they still feel towards one another.
But beyond this mild distraction, the film rarely loses pace as the characters race towards uncovering the truth behind the conspiracy and complete the story before the newspaper's corporate owners and the police close in around the evidence. While all the actors turn in fantastic work, most notable among this talented cast are Helen Mirren as the paper's managing editor and a small supporting role from Jason Bateman. For Mirren's part, she deserves a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work here. Her character is on a tightrope between being ineffectually capitulating towards Cal and Della's attempts to finish the story and despicable villainy as she places the will of the corporate overlords over pursuing the truth. She's a character hopelessly caught in the middle between idealism and pragmatism but rather than have the character a hapless, ineffective mess, Mirren imbues the character with such astounding strength that her constant battle to serve both her desire for the truth and to protect the paper is exhilarating and compelling.
As for Bateman, I am constantly amazed at his ability to steal just about every film he's in. The guy is not only a comedic chameleon who can play the boy scout or the sleazebag, but he guarantees that no matter how great the film or how much star power there is from the other actors, you will not forget him when you leave the theatre. Not only will you remember him in State of Play, you will never hear the word "garage" in quite the same way again (and no disrespect to Carnahan, Gilroy, and Ray but I have to believe that the line delivery on that was all Bateman).
Where State of Play falters most is in its refusal to reconcile old media and new media. I wrote an editorial about this distinction earlier in the week and while I commend the film for provoking such ideas, its argument merely romanticizes old media and it does not make the honest assessment of how the two sides can help each other. I love that McAffrey provides a mentor role to Frye and teaches the neophyte reporter and blogger the importance of getting away from the computer and doing some honest-to-God reporting. But there's no reciprocation. Frye never tells McAffrey how to use the Internet to better research a story or how the speed at which information now travels affects modern reporting. I can respect that the film has to keep pace and can't slow down for equal time but there was room to have the tutelage go both ways and it’s a missed opportunity.
With Duplicity and now State of Play we may be coming back to the age of the smart adult drama. While big action spectacles may dominate our summer and Oscar-bait may dominate the winter, it's refreshing to find films like State of Play still populating the multiplexes and filmmakers like Kevin MacDonald who are still willing to trust their audience.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
4.16.09