Critical Film Condition

Bad marketing is a bitch… “State of Play” didn’t interest me at all because of its lackluster trailers and under-informative marketing campaign and after the first two seconds, when I noticed that this was the movie for the Sneak Preview yesterday, I yawned…

I was in for a little treat, though, because “State of Play” is a nice little flick that fails to be more due to some flaws that are a little too big to go by unnoticed. As usual, movies are movies, and I’ve never even seen an episode of the original TV Series, so this review has nothing to do with it.

One of the things that made me leave this one to the side (especially in the beginning of the blockbuster season) was the fact that it looked like just another one of the millions of conspiracy theory movies (one even CALLED “Conspiracy Theory”) that we already have had thrown at us. Russel Crowe plays a journalist in Washington D.C. who researches on two seemingly unconnected deaths, one of them related to a congressman who happens to be a college buddy of his. I know, YAWN… But that is exactly where “State of Play” stands out: instead of giving out the same bullshit of “small man vs. the system” we’ve seen over and over again, this movie centers its attention on the personal relationship between a journalist and a politician, who are often portrayed as greatest enemies. It is in the development of this relationship and the dilemma of ethics and friendship that “State of Play” could have been a really GREAT movie…

But, as I said before, too many a great mistakes remove this movie from a listing of great thrillers, being the first one Ben Affleck. Due to a bumpy road to development, that involved the WGA strike and replacement of the main actors, Affleck was called in late in pre-production and, even leaving aside the age difference that makes the plot point of them being college buddies gullible, him and Crowe have absolutely no chemistry. Crowe is brilliant at Cal McAffrey, playing a charismatic, ambitious reporter, but the thought of pretty-face Affleck as a congressman is just laughable, and he plays it that way. Supporting roles include a convincing, but maybe too immature Rachel McAdams as McAffrey’s assistant and Helen Mirren’s brilliant portrayal of the moody editor with a big heart. Robin Wright-Penn is there too, but like me, you will forget about that five minutes after you leave the theatre.

Acting (or unbalanced acting) aside, it’s in the screenplay that “State of Play” really falls short. I was caught by surprise in the beginning, but after a big development point in the first half-hour, the movie loses all its steam, taking a few chances here and there to set it back on a fast-paced track, but oftentimes just leaving us wishing for more. And to convince us that this movie is about the interpersonal relationship rather than the conspiracy itself, it tries to add too many plot points in the end, making us wish it was over already when it should. It has such a distinct characteristic of lazy, insecure rewriting, that one of the biggest of these plot-points just stays open, and I mean plot-hole… NO, CRATER style. A surprisingly well cut and shot sequence of Crowe writing the final story is a respectful homage to journalism, but even that doesn’t take away the bitter taste of having bullshit being thrown at you for the last twenty minutes, but that’s life.

[starreviewmulti id=1]

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