State of Play

We have come to the end of "Superior Sequels week", but I may begin inferior sequels week after I watch the Hangover part II. It is much easier to find sequels that don't measure up to the first installment of any franchise. Tonight's review has nothing to do with any of that. I actually watched this last night and the main reason wasn't the story, or the abundance of positive reviews, but merely the cast.  A-List heavy that includes the 2 men above plus Helen Mirren (Oooh yeeeeeah), Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Penn, and Jeff Daniels. I knew little about this except that it involved a reporter, a strange death, and a Congressman, but I wasn't sure of any more details than that. The reason I didn't was because it being classified as a thriller, it was good marketing to keep certain secrets. From minute 1 I was entralled. It takes about 15 minutes to get into the death, but we learn about Cal McCaffrey (Crowe) and his characters attributes during the opening credits. He is a journalist and a damn good one. His "best" friend is Rep. Stephen Collins (Affleck), and the story really kicks off when Collins lead researcher is killed/commits suicide. This immediately leads to a scandal that will cripple Stephens investigation into a company that provides privatized security by ex military/mercenaries. He wants to shut them down, but they don't want to be shut down. The film jumps from theory to theory from the journalistic point of view. A solid investigation by the reporters and the cops with help from the government turns this movie into a fun think piece for the audience. We are constantly wondering what is really going on and who is guilty? This film takes the mystery down to the final 5 minutes and is laced with action and mayhem throughout. This film was so much better than I could have expected. If you have any inclination to watch this, do it. You will not be disappointed. As a thriller it succeeds. As for Ben Affleck, this was one of my favorite performances of his in God knows how long. He is fantastic.

NBM rates State of Play - Awesome