State of Play is a political thriller based on a 6-part BBC miniseries with as many plot reversals as this year’s Duplicity, but operates on a much more serious plane. Ben Affleck plays Congressman Stephen Collins who is investigating a security company (think Blackwater) for war profiteering and other nasty business when his assistant researcher ends up dead under suspicious circumstances. Russell Crowe plays investigative reporter Cal McAffrey who drives a beat up old car with garbage in the back seat, long straggly hair, a cubical plastered with old newspaper stories and post-its, and a voice that sounds like it was recorded with a microphone on a much lower setting than every other actor in the movie. When Collins, who also happens to be Cal’s former college roommate, turns to Cal when rumors of an affair between him and his research surface, Cal goes into full investigative mode, and nothing will get between him and the truth. Not wide-eyed naive political blogger Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) who is assigned to work with him, not the newspaper’s editor (Helen Mirren) who lectures Cal and the audience on the imminent collapse of newspapers because they are not running enough sensationalistic stories, and certainly not the killers who are busy knocking off everyone with any information about the death of Collins’ assistant.
While it is at times heavy-handed, the story is taut, and the performances are compelling (including a great turn by Jason Bateman as a slimeball in a small role). I was fully caught up in the movie until the last set of plot twists and denouement. Sprung rather rapidly at the end, I don’t actually think the outcome of the movie makes logical sense. I’ll explain why in a comment since it’s a major spoiler.
SPOILER ALERT
Minor point first: what exactly was Bingham going to do when he went to “finish the job”? Suicide by cop? But my real question is, why does Collins get arrested? There is absolutely no evidence connecting him to any wrongdoing. He admits to Cal that he called Bingham and had him track Sonia, but that is not a crime, and with Bingham dead there is no way to connect Collins to anything. If Bingham was there to commit suicide by cop from the beginning, then why would Collins admit anything to Cal?