At the movies: “State of Play”
Posted by JimThis movie is a poorly executed and predictable cliche´ with little redeeming entertainment value. The movie is about a murder, two reporters, an editor and a congressman. These ingedients, when properly mixed, could produce a good film. This one, for the first 30 minutes, looked like a winner. Then something very bad happened on then and the credits. Russell Crowe spends the entire movie trying to imitate Dustin Hoffman in “All the President’s Men”. Do I really need to see the trash in the back seat of his beater-Saab? Of course I know all rumpled and slovenly hard core beat reporters live in a dumpy squallid apartments and drive crappy cars! Of course their desks look like a landfills! Give me a break.
Ben Affleck a the congressman is just as bad in that he adopts a fixed facial grimace early in the movie and refuse to change it. Maybe he just had a botox treatment or just came from the dentist. It must be one or the other.
I do not want to give the plot away, the actors will do that for you with brisk exclamations and plentyof raised eyebrows and knowing glances. Sufficed to say, you have probably already seen this movie as it re-uses one of the oldest government-corporate conspiracy themes around and has been done countless times.
For pure humor, the aimed for dramatic buddy-scene on the balcony between Affleck and Crowe is laughable and a real illustration on what bad acting looks like. They both mailed this one in and cashed their very large paychecks. Unfortunately, this sucker paid $9 of that.
