State of Play
Dir: Kevin Macdonald
(the actual review of the movie begins 3 paragraphs down)I've always loved a good DC political thriller, ever since No Way Out -- if for no other reason than to point at the screen and yell "Been there!" (I'm referring to the bridge across the Potomac, not the back seat of a limo with Sean Young). Once I actually moved to DC, I became aware of a whole new game: "Spot the geographic inconsistencies!" Every movie (and TV show) filmed in the District takes some liberties with location -- who can forget President Bartlett's trip from the White House to the State Department in a downpour on "The West Wing" via the National Cathedral!! That's on Wisconsin Avenue!! Who's your driver, Mr. President?!?!
[A corollary to this game is "Spot the local media celebrity," but that game has lost its luster now that sportscaster George Michael has retired (I swear, he has more credits than Larry King!).]
Recent 'filmed in DC' examples that come to mind include: Burn After Reading, The Sentinel (Nicole and James Bond at Foggy Bottom--been there!), Breach (a traffic jam on Rock Creek parkway driving from the Pentagon to the FBI building) and Arlington Road (everybody gets lost driving to the FBI building, it seems). State of Play is not immune: in an early scene, we watch as Sonia Baker walks from her Adams Morgan apartment to the Metro station ... in Rosslyn! (that's in Virginia). She should be going to Dupont Circle, but to be fair to the filmmakers, that is not a very cinematic locale (plus, you can't push somebody onto the tracks at Dupont without being seen -- trust me, I know).
That said, State of Play is otherwise faithful to both the city and the profession it celebrates -- the newspaper profession!--as embodied by that intrepid/besotted Bernstein-esque reporter, Russell Crowe. Yes, the man can play a convincing abrasive print journalist. (I wish I could say the same for actor-cum-politician Ben Affleck: sadly, he only registers discomfort playing a conflicted Congressman next to the heavyweight actors in the cast). I still love your work in Hollywoodland, Ben!
In the excellent screenplay co-penned by Tony Gilroy ("Michael Clayton"), Crowe's Woodward (as played by the fetching Rachel McAdams) is a female blogger a la Ana Marie Cox's 'wonkette' (how's that for updating the story!) Furthermore, the corporate heavyweight badguy (Gilroy has to have one in every plot) is a military contractor that combines the sliminess of Blackwater with the smarminess of Halliburton (or is it vice-versa?). Ripped from the headlines, indeed!
In fact, as much as it pains my Anglophile heart to admit this, every change from the 2003 BBC miniseries (on which this movie is based) is an improvement: cast, plot, pacing, and filmmaking, it is a clean sweep! The six-part series was two-parts too long, and bogged down in red herrings and filmmaking pretensions (just listen to the director's track on DVD). Here, Macdonald ("Last King of Scotland") keeps the action moving at a brisk pace--too brisk for Jason Bateman's character (Dominic Foy) to make the impact the plot requires, or to be believably in fear for his life; nevertheless, he enlivens the film at just the right moment -- holed up in the Americana Motel in Crystal City (driven by there!)
As a(n) homage to a dying industry, the film harkens back to both "All the President's Men" and that Humphrey Bogart-Ethel Barrymore movie (too lazy to check IMDB at this point)--especially during the last montage: Long Live Newsprint! [FYI--The Pampa News is looking for a new beat reporter: experience required ... don't waste their time!]
