State of Play sports plot twists, great acting

“State of Play” twists the viewer more than any movie that has come out in recent memory. Shining performances by Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck make the movie a joy to watch while the amazing supporting cast sets the film apart.

            Although he literally never makes a bad movie, Crowe steps up a lot in “State of Play” as the movie depends a lot on his performance.

            Crowe stars as Cal Mcaffrey, a reporter for the Washington Globe (clearly the Washington Post) who is given the story of a double-murder down a back alley.

            Although he starts out with simple intentions of writing a character piece on one of the victims, he stumbles onto the fact that the murders were part of a much bigger conspiracy.

            Mcaffrey’s college roommate and friend Stephen Collins, Ben Affleck, is a congressional representative who has a sex scandal break at the same time and finds himself mixed into Mcaffery’s story.

            Through a complicated set of twists, everything the viewer thinks he knows about the plot is spun around on them for a fantastic ending.

            Crowe and Affleck are phenomenal and have several very powerful scenes together. Affleck revitalizes his reputation as a skilled actor, and rightfully so, the complexity of his character makes it difficult for the audience to ever make up their mind about him.

            Crowe puts on a noticeable amount of weight and dons shoulder-length hair that helps transform him into the reporter he is playing. Crowe doesn’t have his usual unstoppable demeanor, but instead has a general curiosity that he displays incredibly. Crowe is incredibly believable as a reporter, and it is hard to think of him as a gladiator or boxer after seeing him in “State of Play.”

            The supporting cast really helps tie the film together. Rachel McAdams plays a protégé of sorts to Mcaffery and never loses the innocence she shows early on in the film. Helen Mirren plays Crowe’s editor, Cameron Lynne, and adds a good source of counterbalance to Crowe’s control over the paper.

            Finally, Jeff Daniels plays an influential representative. His character, George Fergus, is another very unpredictable character and who also greatly influences Collins.

            Overall, the film is a great success. Between the clever plot movement and the fantastic performances, this is the kind of film that may be remembered on Oscar night.

9/10