Diagonaldi Very well executed

SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Brigid O Sullivan (wisewebwoman) Why does Hollywood hire the best cast, crew and direction, use a perfectly good political plot borrowed from the UK and then proceed to pander it to unsuspecting viewers by dumbing it down completely.The "script" in the US version is full of plot-holes that frustrated this viewer: once you know who the assassin is connected to (red herrings abound) it makes even less sense. The contrived affair between Afflecks' wife, played by Robin Wright, rang completely false. The original series had her as a scheming and vengeful spurned wife. And the crusty disheveled old reporter buying the hot cub reporter a necklace of pens? Oh please. Helen Mirren walked on and off screaming Britishly as demanded.No tensions whatsover, Justin Bateman as a sleazy PR guy shone.Disappointing. But interesting to see the Washington Post inner workings.3/10

Davis P State of Play is like I said, an intelligent well made, thought provoking thriller that keeps you wanting more and on the edge of your seat. Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams do a wonderful job as the lead actors here, they manage to hold their own, and have good authentic looking chemistry between one another. Helen Mirren, one of my all time favorite people, gives a strong powerful performance as a supporting character. And of course Ben Affleck Briggs his all, like he usually does in his films, he was strong and heated in his performance, which was absolutely needed in every respect. And last but not least Robin Wright Penn was convincing in her role just like her fellow co-stars were. The plot summary is intriguing and interesting in many different ways. The plot certainly does keep you engaged and it makes you think, this film does NOT do all the thinking for you, it forces you to engage, which I love and respect in a movie. The action is not high octane or tense, and to be honest there is not a lot of action in the film, but that's okay, it didn't call for or need big ol' action sequences, it was a lot more of a tense thriller and figuring out who done what. The dialogue here is well written and smart, overall this movie is a great time and shows the inevitable talent of the entire cast and crew that worked on it. 10/10

inspectors71 Every time I figured Kevin Macdonald's State of Play was going to descend into cliché and corn, somebody on screen did something I didn't expect. The whole premise of the movie, its "high concept," is a cliché, but Macdonald decides he's going to make something more than a dreary veteran-and-cub-reporters-crack-the-big-government-corruption-case movie. Even if the viewer is predisposed to dislike a journalism movie--the way my wife despises courtroom dramas and we both cringe at jailhouse suspensers--he or she is going to find the characters, for the most part, engaging, or, at least, comfortably recognizable. Three things that caught my eye, besides the plot twists that kept me interested: Supporting characters Helen Mirren and Jeff Daniels underplay their roles, although Mirren's character spends a good deal of the movie snapping and fuming at Russell Crowe and Rachel MacAdams, and Daniels is very believable as a Congressional leader who doesn't have all the evil moves you come to expect in movies.The second grace in State of Play is how little Macdonald uses Ben Affleck. He's a critical part of the story, but Affleck also underplays the part of a corrupt, trapped US representative. He has his moments of being dramatic, but there wasn't a bit of scenery getting chewed when he's confronted with his bad behavior. Finally, in a political thriller like this, made by our friends in Hollywood--who never seem to pass up a chance to be hopelessly partisan in their quest for creating a Workerz Paradise--have made it subtly clear that Affleck and Daniels are--Egads!--Democrats. They're slimy and corrupt and phoney as all get out, but they aren't eeevil Republicans!A movie that is founded on a tried-and-true cliché, plot twists that take the viewer by surprise, characters that don't consume the sets the way my Chihuahua wolfs down cat food, and some freaking originality in saying that corrupt politicians can be liberals? Sheesh, what's the world coming to?

sourav ray This movie is remake of British TV series with same name. The British TV series far far better than this movie. Heavy casting but a complete garbage. I am expecting better performance from Ben. The movie was trying to separate from movie but they just lost the plot and thrill of a suspense drama. British screenplay was smarter with sense of humour Russell Crow is not fit to a journalist character and the British counter part is far better. The editor's character was a significant in the story but in the movie that role spoiled the whole character. I suggest you to watch TV series instead this bad handled movie. Though the raise American biggest problem war against false terror. The try to shorten the story but added some unnecessary scene like cal chased by assassin.