State of Play

Hi there.

Have you watched the movie 'State Of Play' ? This is another Political Conspiracy story from The Capitol Hill, DC. The main characters are a reporter named Cal McAffey (played by overweight Russell Crowe, but still brilliant!) who is a college friend of congressman Rep. Stephen Collins (played by Ben Affleck! Not so convincing to me, but oh well, I’m probably so used to congressman being portrayed as old-almost-senile type). 2 murders and 1 near fatal shooting opened the story at the beginning and from then on, the motives and linkages unravel to a more complex conspiracy surrounding the congressman, his sex scandal and more profound reason of all the madness, money (of course). In between all that, there seems to be old wound or history in the friendships between Cal, Stephen and Stephen’s wife Annie (played by Robin Wright). As a friend, Cal seems unrelentlessly trying to protect Stephen, but at the same time he is also a true journo at heart and chasing the scoop of news and bringing out the truth is what he does best. It is also fun to see the dynamic between Cal and his sidekick, a dewy-eye cub-reporter name Della Frye. (Played by Rachel McAdams – I love her!) I feel the movie is refreshing as we are also been thrust to look at things from a newspaper/reporter’s point of view and how things work in a news room. And yeah! Helen Mirren rocks as the tough cookie Editor of the Washington Globe.