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State of Play [DVD] [2009] |
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Staring:
Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright-Penn, Jason Bateman
Director:
Kevin Macdonald
Average Customer Rating: 
List Price: £19.99
Our Price: £3.00
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Taking the excellent BBC mini-series of the same name as its starting point, State Of Play is a terrific political thriller, and one of the most intelligent blockbusters to come out of Hollywood in some time. Transplanting the story from Britain to America, State Of Play finds Russell Crowe taking on the role of Washington reporter Cal McCaffrey (played by John Simm in the original mini-series), and he starts to look into a mysterious series of murders. One such murder is that of Congressman Stephen Collins’ researcher, and with the backing of his editor (played by Helen Mirren), McCaffrey starts poking his nose into some increasingly dangerous business. Directed with consummate skill by Kevin McDonald (who last helmed The Last King Of Scotland), State Of Play is a twisting, terrifically written thriller that benefits enormously from the strength of its cast. Both Crowe and Mirren are on excellent form here, but plaudits must also go to Ben Affleck as Collins, as well as Rachel McAdams as McCaffrey’s co-reporter. Does it beat the miniseries on which it’s based? It does as fine a job as you could ever possibly expect, taking a six-episode television programme and distilling it into a compelling two-hour Hollywood thriller. State Of Play, in whatever form you catch it, is some piece of work. And the movie version? It’s one of the finest mainstream releases of the year. --Jon Foster
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 State of Play (Blu-ray version)..., 2010-08-26
Taking its title and most of its plot from the 2003 B.B.C. mini-series of the same name the director of the film "The Last King of Scotland" Kevin MacDonald brings to life the Hollywood version which sees the story relocated from London to Washington with Russell Crowe heading up the cast playing the lead role of Cal McAffrey a role played by John Simm in the T.V. adaption.
Crowe plays the role of the investigative reporter who spies a conspiracy and cover-up where everyone else sees a sex scandal this is the backdrop for this exciting rollercoaster ride of a thriller.
The Blu-ray is 50 Gig BD this gives the disc room for not only the main feature in 1080p the disc also has DTS-HD master audio which is in English Spanish German and Italian the signal type is VC-1 the use of this signal type allows the picture compared to the DVD to look more colourful and have greater saturation and greater depth of blacks, the subtitles include English, German, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish and international Mandarin.
The special features include deleted scenes and a making of documentary for the movie which takes you behind the scenes and has interviews with cast members which includes Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and the director Kevin MacDonald.
The Blu-ray also features Washington locations and gives you historical insight with the use of interactive graphics and picture in picture during the film.
A great value disc with exclusive Blu-ray features...
 Blah, 2010-07-15
Watch the BBC series, beats the pants off this film. Ben Affleck gives yet another stiff performance. There is no chemistry between Affleck and Russell Crowe which I think is essential to the story. Thats not to say this is a bad film, but if I were to recommend one out of the two I'd go with the original BBC series. Bill Nighy is brilliant as per usual!
 Remake of BBC series makes for enjoyable film, 2010-08-23
This film, staring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck is an adaptation of the widely-praised BBC six part drama of the same name from 2003. The story is essentially the same - journalist investigating political scandal swirling around a politician who is also an old friend - but transplanted to the US, with the Iraq war as the backdrop with a veneer of blogging added.
Crowe plays the part of the experienced, cynical journalist - a role he landed after Brad Pitt dropped out following script disagreements. The contrast between the unkempt, unglamorous, unfit Crowe and the world of political glamour works well and it is hard to see how Pitt would have carried off the role as well.
(You do have to admire the cheek with which the whole incident is air-brushed out from the film's official Production Notes issued to reviewers at the time of its cinematic release. It's no great surprise that Pitt isn't mentioned, but the Notes do contain this, "When considering actors for the part, the team had a fortunate break. Macdonald [the director] recalls: 'The studio said to me, 'Who do you want?' I said, 'I want the best actor in the world, and that's Russell Crowe.' And they said, 'Okay, let's see'. So we sent Russell the script.")
Although the film's promoters have talked about how the addition of a blogger to the cast of characters makes this film in part about how the old media are coping with the rise of the new media, this is perhaps the least convincing part of the film. Blogging versus traditional journalism gets a few lines early and late in the film, but the core of the film is written as if blogging still didn't exist. Back in 2003, when blogging was much rarer, a key part of the drama of the story was journalists up against newspaper print deadlines. Now the news cycle is a very different beast, yet for most of the film it is as if none of this has happened and, token blogger aside, the news cycle is still all about the late night/early morning print deadline.
The other wrong note is struck by the final twist at the film nears its end. It is the same as it was in the TV series, but whilst in the later case the twist came as a shocking revelation, in the film it's more matter of fact, "Oh look, the film is near the end, so let's have one last twist." In part this is because the twist shifts your understanding of the characters and how they relate and, even at 127 minutes, the film can't replicate the impact of a TV series where you have built up your knowledge of the characters over six weeks.
These, though, are two rare missteps in the film overall, and indeed despite containing many scenes that are the staple of dozens of films and TV series (editor arguing with journalist in their office, journalist talking to policeman at scene of crime, etc.) they are filmed with originality and freshness. Added in are shots of people in the background and helicopters flying over head that not only keep a sense of uncertainty going (which, if any, will turn out to matter to the plot?) but also a sense of action taking place on a bigger stage, where the characters are but part of the wider life of the city.
Running through it all is a plot closely drawn from the original TV series that offers tension and drama whilst always staying just the right side of believable, and mystery and suspense without offering up so many leads and false leads as to confuse.
All in all, a very enjoyable way of spending two hours.
The State Of Play : Complete BBC Series 1 [2003] [DVD] - an even better way of spending an even longer period - is available on DVD, rather oddly labelled "Series 1".
Intelligent thriller, 2010-05-07
There aren't enough decent political thrillers like this one coming out of Hollywood these days, so this was a pleasant surprise. It features a heavyweight list of actors and a decent script which is full of tension and twists. Russell Crowe gives a very subtle understated performance as the reporter trying to uncover the truth behind a series of murders and a conspiracy linked to high office government officials. It's not absolutely perfect, there are a few dodgy moments but on the whole this was a very smart thriller, with an amusing cameo from Jason Bateman.
complicated !, 2010-07-28
This is a very watchable dvd, but at the end you have a need to re-wind and watch it again because some things don't add up. The pace is good and for once I enjoyed Ben Affleck and I needed the subtitles on in order to hear what was being said, as there is a lot of mumbling. Will definitely see it again when I can concentrate more.
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Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.78:1
Audience Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Binding: DVD
EAN: 5050582702330
Format: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL
Label: Universal Pictures UK
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UK
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Pictures UK
Region Code: 2
Release Date: 2009-09-21
Running Time: 122
Studio: Universal Pictures UK
Theatrical Release Date: 2009 |
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