(Take Woodward and Bernstein, combine them into one character - but make him infinitely hotter. Result: Mr. Crowe Goes to Washington…)
CAST: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright-Penn, Jason Bateman.
DIRECTOR: Kevin MacDonald
WARNING: SPOILERS and unabashed Russell Crowe-worship up ahead.
It’s my firm belief that Russell Crowe is one of the last true movie stars to come out of Hollywood. Sure, we’ve had new actors and actresses who’ve opened successful movies recently. But I don’t think any of them are true movie stars. Russell Crowe has less in common with them than he does with, say… Sean Connery, Harrison Ford, Kevin Costner, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Sharon Stone, and Michelle Pfeiffer - people who, in addition to being able to act well, have that undefinable something even a blind man can see. These days, all it takes to be a “star” is to be attractive and be able to deliver dialogue without embarrassing yourself. Which is the category that Mr. Crowe’s co-star Ben Affleck fits in to. Watching these two is almost like watching the difference between a movie star and someone who can simply act okay.
Mr. Crowe plays Cal McAffrey, a hardnosed and rough-around-the-edges Washington journalist who is also friends with Rep. Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck). Set aside the fact that Russ Crowe is at least 8 years older than Ben A., you still have to buy in to the notion that livewire alpha-male Cal would ever even consider being pallies with such a milquetoast like Stephen. Presumably, Stephen was even more square in college, and Cal, even wilder. Which makes you wonder if opposites truly attract. Or if Stephen was paying Cal to be his friend.
Anyhow, their friendship is put to the test when Stephen breaks down on live TV after being told that his assistant Sonia was killed in a metro accident. Falling apart with the camera rolling, the viewers can only presume that Stephen is so upset because (1) Sonia was a valued member of his staff, or (2) Sonia was a valued member of his staff who also was a very good friend, or (3) Sonia was a valued member of his staff who was also a very good friend whom he was also fucking six ways from Monday. Anyone surprised that everyone assumes #3 to be true, obviously learned about human nature from reading Archie comic books.
Naturally, this turns into a scandal that makes the headlines, and Cal finds himself under pressure from chief editor Cameron Lynne (Helen Mirren) to deliver the goods on his friend. Add to this mix eager-beaver blogger Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) trying to scoop him, and you can’t blame Cal for sneaking a sip of Irish wine - read: Jameson’s whiskey. Further complicating things is Stephen’s wife Anne whom Cal had a thing with awhile back, which caused a rift in the mens’ friendship. Anne obviously still loves Cal, who makes a googley eyes at him as if he were being played by Russell Crowe. Bitch. He’s my man.
Sorry, lost my bearings there for a moment. Where were we? Oh, yeah…. Plot breakdown…. The Cal-Anne-Stephen triangle…. To sum it up, who can blame Anne for spreading ‘em for Cal? Choosing between a milquetoast congressman who looks like Ben Affleck and a gladiator reporter who looks like Russell Crowe is rather like choosing between slipping into a coma - or someone slipping their tongue into your ear. Things get even hairier (by things, I don’t mean Russell’s back) when it becomes evident that PointCorps, a billion-dollar company being investigated by Stephen, may not only have been responsible for Sonia’s death, but also planting her as a spy in his office to report on his every move. Stephen doesn’t take this news well, because the choad apparently believed Sonia really loved him. This makes him go ape-shit, and he decides to give an interview to Cal’s paper that basically blows the whistle on PointCorps and everyone one else involved.
If you’re thinking the movie ends at this point, then you obviously learned about thrillers from reading The Hardy Boys books. In this day and age, it’s de rigueur for a final twist to be tossed onto the audience like one of the those 100 lb, salmons at Pike’s Place Market. Only it doesn’t smell as bad. Just a slippery, though - turns out that Stephen was actually behind Sonia’s death, after all. He actually discovered that she was a spy for PointCorps and hired a psycho ex-military pal to tail her. Only the psycho ex-military pal turned, well, psycho and killed her from outrage. I wonder if Mata Hari had it this bad? Needless to say, the film ends with Cal putting things together and confronting Stephen, who promptly breaks down and admits everything - and in doing so reaffirms the universal truth that while good boys may be less trouble than bad boys at first, in the long run, they may be even worse. And fucking boring, as well.
Meanwhile, across town Anne rejoices, knowing that she can fuck Cal with abandon with her yawn-a-thon husband out of the way now. Bitch.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: Recently, I reviewed A PERFECT GETAWAY and called it a good, old-fashioned thriller that takes its time to wrap its clammy hands around your ankles - then yanks you off your feet to have its way with you right there on the movie theatre floor. STATE OF PLAY is another such throwback to the thrillers that value character and classic storytelling over flashy gimmicks and Megan Fox-like starlets. Based on a BBC mini-series of the same name, STATE OF PLAY is the first of two US remakes of British series to be released in the last two years. The second was EDGE OF DARKNESS with Mel Gibson, which was just as good, if not a little better.
STATE OF PLAY builds suspense by developing the characters at the same pace that it develops the plot twists. Their actions define them as they push the plot forward at the same time. The cast - with one notable exception - certainly leaves its mark on the roles: Russell is simply amazing, actually creating a character rather than just saying his lines. Rachel McAdams does well as the young ingenue who is eager but not chirpy, and who gradually comes to respect Cal after an initial wariness. Helen Mirren is delightful as Cameron Lynne, who is obviously a graduate of the tough-love school of managerial leaderhsip. Robin Wright-Penn does a lot with the potentially small role of Anne Collins, Stephen’s conflicted wife. She makes the role feel bigger than it is, and her eyes have a language of their own.
The notable exception that I mention is Mr. Affleck. I’ve always liked him since GOOD WILL HUNTING, and he’s always had natural screen presence and charisma. But here, trying to project gravity and inscrutability, he comes across as a little stiff and wooden. As if he was assessing his every move. You could argue that this was actually because Stephen is monitoring himself from revealing too much, as he is the pic’s true villain, but it just comes across as self-consiousness. I keep wondering how the role would have turned out with Edward Norton in it, as was originally planned. I think the pairing with Russell would’ve been more balanced with Mr. Norton. But I guess I should just be grateful that they didn’t use Brad Pitt for the role of Cal, as was originally planned. It could’ve been far worse.
Because in my mind, Brad Pitt is merely a good actor. Russell crowe is an excellent actor - and a movie star.
