State Of Play...

I went to visit a friend of mine on Saturday evening, and she persuaded me to go and see State of Play at the cinema. To be fair, I didn't require too much in the way of arm-twisting: the cast can truly be described as "all-star," fielding, as it does, Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams and Robin Wright Penn.

Added to which, there is nothing else on at the moment...

I hadn't read any reviews, and I hadn't realised that this had started out as a BBC drama, so I wasn't sure what to expect, not even the genre.

It turned out to be an action-thriller type of film, with the emphasis on the action. And the thriller. I was actually on the edge of my seat on a few occasions... 

The basic plot is simple. A girl dies under a train and there is speculation that it's suicide. It turns out that she was working for a Congressman, and when he gets all tearful at a press conference, media speculation begins as to the possibility of an affair between the two. Russell Crowe plays an old-fashioned reporter, and Rachel McAdams is the "modern Miss" newbie who's keen as mustard but has a lot to learn about investigative journalism. There is some initial tension between the two, as Crowe is rather dismissive of McAdams' blogging... as you can imagine, that little bit of play had me in stitches! The Congressman (Affleck) is an old friend of Crowe's, and he asks for help with the media circus... and then it transpires that the researcher was pushed, and it's murder...

I'm unwilling to go on with the storyline, as I don't want to spoil it for the rest of you. Go and see it for yourselves! You won't regret it.