KTKA

State of Play stars Oscar Winner Russell Crowe as a DC newspaper reporter Cal McAffrey investigating a murder of the research assistant and mistress of a fast rising, charming Congressman Stephen Collins played by Ben Affleck.

The Congressman has high aspirations as he is overseeing defense spending and is being groomed as his party's possible next presidential candidate. Desperate to clear his name Congressman Collins goes directly to McAffrey with his side of the story, hoping their past friendship will help him get a more honest portrayal of what actually happened.

In the meantime McAffrey is feeling the pressure from his editor played by Oscar Winner Helen Miren who wants to satisfy the paper's new corporate owners with more sensationalistic pieces because it makes more money.

As the investigation goes deeper McAffrey uncovers secrets that the Congressman's assistant took to the grave with her. If all is brought to the forefront it could shake the foundation of the political world, and implicate many top officials.

"State of Play" is a well crafted, intelligent thriller that's based on a six hour BBC mini-series of the same name. The movie also does a great job of showing the lack of honesty and the big dollar greedy beliefs of some political big wigs. Director Kevin MacDonald does a masterful job of keeping this film moving a breakneck pace, because it's not easy to cram a mini-series into a 2 hour film.

The movie is fueled by a great cast led by a convincing performance by Russell Crowe who adds life to his character. Crowe who replaced Brad Pitt in this role is one of the best actor's working today as he is convincing and compelling to watch on screen. I think the movie would have lost something with Pitt in this role, not that he's not good actor but Crowe has that look of a grizzled reporter that made the movie more believable.

The rest of the cast include Ben Affleck who gives us one of his very best performances, Oscar winning actress Helen Miren who is terrific, along with one of my current favorite actresses Rachel McAdams among others. Seldom is there such a cast of talented actor's where the roles are so well defined and each character really matters to the overall fabric of the story.

My only problem with "State of Play" was I wished the movie had just a little more bite to it, yes its thrilling and intelligent but I wanted just a little more of an edge. With that being said this film keeps you guessing with a compelling thought provoking story that will keep you intrigued.