State of Play

a nicely-paced piece on political reporting. mirren, crowe & mcadams do a great job as editor, old dog & cub reporter respectively. the best-friend's wife angle was also played admirably by penn. all in all, a pretty entertaining show, what set me laughing was the scene at ben's chili bowl (a dc fave), and the tatty printout out: "only bill cosby eats here for free, nobody else!" -- i wonder how that's gonna make the obamas feel :d read more

film #9 in operation: rewatch my blu-rays i havent seen in a long time state of play is a smart, well-made journalistic thriller that seems even more relevant five years after it was made. russell crowe, ben affleck, rachel mcadams and helen mirren all turn in great performances in this adaptation of the uk serial of the same name, in which a pair of washington reporters with different ideologies team up to investigate the death of a capitol hill staffer and the congressman--one of the reporter's friends--who the staffer was having an affair with. kevin macdonald's direction is slick and read more