State of Play

This movie really didn't do much for me. Its not that it was bad necessarily, the cast was loaded (Russel Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Ben Afleck, Robin Wright Penn), and the story was kind of interesting. Unfortunately it really just became a muddle as it tried to be a detective/corporate conspiracy/political thriller all at once, while also shoehorning in a blatant attempt to justify the existence of newspapers against the encroachment of the internet. Too much going on (not surprisingly based on a mini-series) and none of it really grabbed me. I was also distracted by the casting of Ben Afleck as the crusading congressman. Its not that he did a bad job, but the character was supposed to have been roommates with Crowe and the same age as Penn, but he looked about 15 years younger. As a result it was difficult to buy their relationships, which of course are central to the story.

So anyway, not much to say. The film aims much higher than it actually hits, and is overall fairly mediocre and forgettable.