As much as I generally watch blockbuster action films at the cinema, or something that makes use of the surround sound to the max – I generally miss out on dramas, and low-key thrillers until they make their way to DVD.

In this case, I couldn’t. I remember seeing the BBC TV mini series on ABC a couple of years ago with my Dad, and both of us just being riveted, asking each other questions, trying to guess who was responsible or who might get hurt in the process of finding answers. It was one of those rare thrills of an old school mystery, where black was black (or camouflage green in some cases..) and white was white, and there were subtle shades of good & bad in between.

When it was announced that State of Play was to be remade into a Hollywood film, of course I wondered how it would be handled. A mini series remade? Albeit British, and not widely seen by as large an audience as a film – would it be done well, and properly adapted for an American, and global audience? Directed by the accomplished director of the visceral Last King of Scotland Kevin McDonald;  mini-series creator Paul Abbot lent a hand to the script well crafted script, as well as  Billy Ray who also co-wrote (responsible for Shattered Glass & Breach – two movies you must go and rent if you haven’t seen them as yet.) By casting some amazing actors in Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams & Ben Affleck as the Congressman caught in the crossfires of a suspected suicide – it was not going to be a small independent feature. I had to see it.

To very briefly describe the external plot is to lightly graze over a very intricately woven story. A junkie runs for his life through the streets, bumping into and knocking over people in hopes of hiding, before getting shot very swiftly by a solidly built man, holding a silver briefcase (where do you GET these silver briefcases?! Assassins R Us?!). A guy cycling by witnesses the shooting and also gets shot, left for dead in the alley way. The next morning, a beautiful White House intern falls to a seemingly accidental death in the subway. Cue the unravelling of events, as a stoic Ben Affleck playing a Congressman struggles to hide his grief at the death of his lead researcher on a major investigative hearing.

Russell Crowe plays a veteran reporter at the Washington Globe with a 16 year old computer, whilst Rachel McAdams is the novice Globe blogger; two worlds that surely shouldn’t meet as they investigate the murders and find a thin thread that connects the two events. The other link is that Rusty’s room-mate in college was the Congressman, and he needs help.With Helen Mirren as a feisty brutally honest editor overseeing the building story; State of Play becomes a getaway car, speeding along a freeway with nothing but dust in its wake.

To even try to describe how fast paced, and edgy this thriller is; would be to ruin the surprises. While it feels like a conventionally structured thriller, surely it can’t be! Just when you think that you have figured it out, or just when you think surely you have figured out the players in the murder, or who played a part.. something else happens which makes you question it, and/or flat out makes you turn to the friend you brought with you and whisper excitedly something along the lines of  ” Oh! What did he do just then?! What does that mean?” and it makes the cinema experience far more exciting than a stock-standard thriller generally is.

Aside from the action and the complex thriller so well laid out, and structured, I also have to give credit to the way the subtext of newsprint vs blogs and the online presence that intimidated and threatened Crowe’s character initially is conveyed. He immediately jerks against the trend, until McAdams proves that the online generation isn’t lacking in smarts, and/or uses when it comes to creating a story or hype to even change the way the truth is told. That alone gives the audience an opportunity to question what they read, where they read it, and why they think its more valuable than other mediums. Is convenience more valuable than something in print? Does convenience allow the written word to be dismissed more easily?

Its fascinating in its complexity; and didn’t I distract you so well from why I love the film so much? I can’t exactly say because its the type of film that has so many little surprises, and to try to describe it to the point where it will detract from your movie watching experience; well I wouldn’t do that. I hope that in itself conveys that this is a drama you should get to the cinema to see. Whilst everyone salivates, and buys their massive popcorn combo packs with special collector cups and watches the latest machines vs humans blockbuster; go and watch State of Play.

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