State of Play is a throwback to the many great political thrillers of the 1970s where noble, but flawed heroes navigate a web of mystery, dealing with their own inadequacies and misconceptions while unearthing massive conspiracies.
It is a thrilling ride that accomplishes something unusual in our painfully post-modern age. The movie actually surprises the audience with plot twists that aren’t based on gimmicks or red herrings. State of Play throws about as much as it can at the audience without becoming incomprehensibly convoluted. It lets us relish the scenery and the realistic performances from the outstanding cast without forcing us to step back and think, “What just happened?” as many modern thrillers are apt to do.
The movie, directed by the incredibly talented Kevin Macdonald, uses the old story-telling device of a world-weary protagonist out to uncover the truth, by any means possible. This time around the hero is Cal McAffrey (a frumpy Russell Crowe), an endangered print journalist for the Washington Globe, trying to break a story of political and corporate conspiracy the old-fashioned way—by using facts and newsprint, not gossip and a blog.
It’s a tough road for Cal as he navigates his utterly unrealistic assignment, which involves ethics-busting friendships with his sources, the constant risk of bodily harm and perhaps the more dangerous threat of what his editor will do to him as he continually pushes back his deadlines. If you are like me and enjoy those scenes in movies where the journalist yells, “Stop the presses!” or something similar, then you’ll love this movie.
I won’t go too much into the specifics of the plot for fear of ruining any secrets, but Cal and his plucky sidekick Della Frye, a blogger played by Rachel McAdams who gets an immersion course in “feet on the pavement” reporting, eventually begin to connect a series of murders to a large corporation that is under scrutiny by Cal’s college buddy (Ben Affleck), who just happens to be an ambitious U.S. congressman.
There is also that lingering feeling that the suicide of the congressman’s staffer and mistress may not be a suicide after all. Don’t get smug if you think you know what is going on already. You have no idea.
The script was written by Matthew Michael Carnahan (The Kingdom) and rewritten and polished by some of the best screenwriters working in the industry, Tony Gilroy (the Bourne series), Peter Morgan (The Queen) and Billy Ray (Shattered Glass). The team managed to condense the 2003 six-hour BBC series by the same name into two hours without making it seem like anything is missing. The film is busy for sure, but is never over-stuffed with plot. It’s very satisfying.
With all that works in State of Play there are still some problems, namely that Cal’s investigation is a little too smooth. Leads and sources fall into his lap without much trying and he works out connections that would take even a Pulitzer Prize winner on speed weeks to figure out, not hours. Willing suspension of disbelief is necessary to enjoy most entertainment, but my disbelief reservoir just about burst a few times during the movie. Almost.
Something else occurred to me after watching State of Play. As newspapers fold and more and more journalists jump to instant online reporting, will we start to see less movies about the old-fashioned world of print journalism? I hope not.
There’s something intrinsically exciting about a grizzled reporter tracking down leads under the tension of a deadline with a notebook in their back pocket and a pen crammed behind their ear. Like a vigilante cop tracking down a criminal or a private detective embroiled in sexualized mystery, the truth-seeking journalist is an archetype I hope never goes away.
After all, think of the alternative. A blogger rewriting a press release while sitting on a couch in their underwear just doesn’t have the same excitement, does it?