Having previously enjoyed the director's last film The Last King of Scotland, I was interested in seeing State of Play. While it was good in places, the overall film does not live the director's last film due to several reasons.
State of Play has a strong cast that includes Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, both of whom are really good but the script doesn't always allow for them to really shine. Even though Russell Crowe is good, there is sense of connection to his character and that is the same for Rachel McAdams' character. Helen Mirren gives a solid performance, as does Ben Affleck while Jason Bateman nearly steels the entire film as a sleazy PR man.
The story does progress at a steady pace but without any connection for the characters it is difficult to care. There is a sub-plot with Russell Crowes character who had an affair with his best friends wife but it never becomes interesting and feels like a poor effort to add character depth.
There were a couple of scenes that were interesting and the underlying theme of how the internet will eventually kill off the newspaper adds some weight to the story. One scene sees Russell Crowe hiding in an underground car park and it is very tense but once the film has ended, you will soon forget about it.
The film does have an audience in-mind but for everyone else there is no real reason to see this unless you are a fan of the director's previous films. A solid effort as a political thriller but not a must see.
State of Play has a strong cast that includes Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, both of whom are really good but the script doesn't always allow for them to really shine. Even though Russell Crowe is good, there is sense of connection to his character and that is the same for Rachel McAdams' character. Helen Mirren gives a solid performance, as does Ben Affleck while Jason Bateman nearly steels the entire film as a sleazy PR man.
The story does progress at a steady pace but without any connection for the characters it is difficult to care. There is a sub-plot with Russell Crowes character who had an affair with his best friends wife but it never becomes interesting and feels like a poor effort to add character depth.
There were a couple of scenes that were interesting and the underlying theme of how the internet will eventually kill off the newspaper adds some weight to the story. One scene sees Russell Crowe hiding in an underground car park and it is very tense but once the film has ended, you will soon forget about it.
The film does have an audience in-mind but for everyone else there is no real reason to see this unless you are a fan of the director's previous films. A solid effort as a political thriller but not a must see.