Decent thriller, but missing something special

I Gotta Admit, I did not entirely get the ending

A solid and interesting old-fashioned political thriller

State of Play, see the feature film, but be sure to see the BBC miniseries, too

A Pleasant Throw Back to Early Pressburger/Powell Espionage and a Pakula Classic

Ben's Chili Bowl - 1213 U Street NW, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

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Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, and Rachel McAdams in State of Play (2009)

I want you to do a complete rundown on this Sonia Baker: who she knew, who she blew, the color of her knickers.

Helen Mirren and Kevin Macdonald in State of Play (2009)

Russell Crowe and Helen Mirren in State of Play (2009)

Helen Mirren and Rachel McAdams in State of Play (2009)

Russell Crowe and Kevin Macdonald in State of Play (2009)

Russell Crowe

Rachel McAdams

Ben Affleck

Matthew Michael Carnahan

Tony Gilroy

Billy Ray

An investigative journalist probes the murder of a Congressman&apos;s mistress.

Kevin Macdonald

State of Play

In &apos;State of Play&apos; the surprises keep coming. A politician&apos;s staff-member has been murdered and two journalists set out to discover the &apos;Who&apos; (who killed her) and the &apos;Why&apos;. We go down one alley, then another, all our beliefs challenged, then changed, but throughout it all our interest remains pretty high.

But then ... then something happens. One of the characters says something that she could not possibly know about, and this re-arranges all the assumptions we have made about guilty parties. Which is fine. But for one thing. The character who made the telling statement all but disappears from the film. She is not guilty. And the someone who is guilty is not the person who made the statement. And so the question is, what really happened here? I don&apos;t know. And I should know, because that&apos;s what the film was leading up to. Who Done It? Easy. Yes?

Russel Crowe is fine as one journalist, Rachel McAdam is superb as his younger associate. Ben Affleck is his usual stoic self, though it works in this role. Helen Mirren is shrill - too shrill - in her role as the newspaper&apos;s managing editor. For fans of Robin Wright - and there are many - she&apos;s fine as the wife of the Affleck character; thrown over for someone younger.

Finally, the film is - how to say? - flabby. It&apos;s not as tight as it should be. It goes off on tangents that lead nowhere at times when we should be tightening up the script and the tension. Also, it&apos;s kind of &apos;old fashioned&apos;; the sort of plucky-young-journalist film they don&apos;t make anymore.

Anyway, it made for an entertaining evening. And that&apos;s more than merely O.k.

Picture-perfect U.S. congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) seems to be the rising star in the world of politics -- until his research assistant, who was also his mistress, is murdered. And then the secrets start coming out...

State of Play: Trailer #2

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTg4OTU5NzYzOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjcwMDkzMg@@._V1_.jpg

In 'State of Play' the surprises keep coming. A politician's staff-member has been murdered and two journalists set out to discover the 'Who' (who killed her) and the 'Why'. We go down one alley, then another, all our beliefs challenged, then changed, but throughout it all our interest remains pretty high.

But then ... then something happens. One of the characters says something that she could not possibly know about, and this re-arranges all the assumptions we have made about guilty parties. Which is fine. But for one thing. The character who made the telling statement all but disappears from the film. She is not guilty. And the someone who is guilty is not the person who made the statement. And so the question is, what really happened here? I don't know. And I should know, because that's what the film was leading up to. Who Done It? Easy. Yes?

Russel Crowe is fine as one journalist, Rachel McAdam is superb as his younger associate. Ben Affleck is his usual stoic self, though it works in this role. Helen Mirren is shrill - too shrill - in her role as the newspaper's managing editor. For fans of Robin Wright - and there are many - she's fine as the wife of the Affleck character; thrown over for someone younger.

Finally, the film is - how to say? - flabby. It's not as tight as it should be. It goes off on tangents that lead nowhere at times when we should be tightening up the script and the tension. Also, it's kind of 'old fashioned'; the sort of plucky-young-journalist film they don't make anymore.

Anyway, it made for an entertaining evening. And that's more than merely O.k.

An investigative journalist probes the murder of a Congressman's mistress.

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