State of Play (2009)

A team of investigative reporters work alongside a police detective to try to solve the murder of a congressman's mistress.

Director:

Kevin Macdonald

Writers:

Matthew Michael Carnahan (screenplay), Tony Gilroy (screenplay),

Stars:

Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Russell Crowe	...	Cal McAffrey
Ben Affleck	...	Stephen Collins
Rachel McAdams	...	Della Frye
Helen Mirren	...	Cameron Lynne
Robin Wright	...	Anne Collins (as Robin Wright Penn)
Jason Bateman	...	Dominic Foy
Jeff Daniels	...	George Fergus
Michael Berresse	...	Robert Bingham
Harry Lennix	...	Detective Bell
Josh Mostel	...	Pete
Michael Weston	...	Hank
Barry Shabaka Henley	...	Gene Stavitz
Viola Davis	...	Dr. Judith Franklin
David Harbour	...	PointCorp Insider
Sarah Lord	...	Mandi

Storyline

A petty thief is gunned down in an alley and a Congressman's assistant falls in front of a subway - two seemingly unrelated deaths. But not to wisecracking, brash newspaper reporter Cal McAffrey who spies a conspiracy waiting to be uncovered. With a turbulent past connected to the Congressman and the aid of ambitious young rookie writer Della Frye, Cal begins uprooting clues that lead him to a corporate cover-up full of insiders, informants, and assassins. But as he draws closer to the truth, the relentless journalist must decide if it's worth risking his life and selling his soul to get the ultimate story.

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Plot Keywords:

congressman | newspaper | mistress | assassin | truth | 

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Taglines:

Find The Truth

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence, language including sexual references, and brief drug content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

USA UK France

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

17 April 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los secretos del poder

Filming Locations:

612 S Flower St, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£1,513,951 (UK) (24 April 2009)

Gross:

$36,965,395 (USA) (12 June 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Working Title Films, StudioCanal

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene in which Anne Collins (Robin Wright) makes a statement to the press was shot at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The production employed the presence of several real-world journalists amongst the extras in a scene. The group included Bob Woodward, Margaret Carlson, Bob Schieffer, John Palmer, E.J. Dionne Jr., Katty Kay, and Steve Clemons.

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Goofs

Before Della runs after Cal in one of the office scenes near the end, she is wearing the pen necklace he gave her. It was shown that she just got up and ran after him, but the next time we see her she is not wearing the pen necklace.

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Quotes

Cal McAffrey: Mornin'...
Cameron Lynne: So? Where are we, was he nobbing her or not?
Cal McAffrey: Morning, Cam...
Cameron Lynne: That's funny about you. Every time your friend runs for re-election or conducts a hearing, you drop his name to me until we give him some coverage... but he finally does something that actually might sell some newspapers, you render mute. It's, it's - incongruous!
Cal McAffrey: No, it's not... it's inconsistent.
Cameron Lynne: Pfff, don't be an ass. What do you think? Those are the ideas for our facelift. I know, I know... it's crap! Our new owners ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The printing process of a newspaper is shown as the ending credits start to show up.

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.76 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Walking on Sunshine"
Written by Kimberley Rew
Performed by Priddis Music Studio Band
Courtesy of Priddis Music, Inc.

User Reviews

If you like thrillers...

Crowe brings his A game (despite an occasional accent slip) to his role as a world-weary reporter with the newly purchased Washington Globe, helmed by Helen Mirren's very engaging take on Perry White/Katharine Graham. If you like thrillers you won't be disappointed in this pic that runs 2 hours and feels less than half of that. "State of Play" isn't perfect and the number of plot points that need to come together veritably dictate some implausibility at the end but if you compare this film to any five suspense-thrillers (at least Hollywood-made) that have come out in the past five years, you have to appreciate the whole package: Acting (and I disagree with the Ben Affleck naysayers here, he acquitted himself very well), character acting (Viola Thomas, Jason Batemen and Harry Lennix compete equally with a fraction of the time of the major players), interesting and gripping plot and story development, and overall believability all make this a first-rate film and one all involved should be proud of. The subtext of love and loss surrounding the non- entertainment print media also lends more than a little credibility and sympathy to the effort. I hope this film succeeds on a financial level and inspires at least one or two ambitious filmmakers to make movies in the same vein. Without doubt, there are too few genre pics of this caliber and State of Play shows it can be done well, even into the 21st century.