...
Anyway, one of the ones I rented was called ’State of Play’ starring a few well known faces, and coming highly recommended by the short bald guy behind the counter, plus the outstanding claims on the DVD box itself…
‘Unmissable’ stated the Daily Mirror…
‘Scorching’ claim the Daily Mail…
‘An ... Read review
A political conspiracy lies at the heart of this film starring Oscar winners Russell ... more
Crowe, Ben Affleck, and Helen Mirren. A reporter (Crowe) in the nation's capital discovers a mess of lies when the mistress of a congressman (Affleck) is murdered. Kevin Macdonald (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) directs this thriller based on the BBC miniseries of the same name.
A political conspiracy lies at the heart of this film starring Oscar winners Russell ... more
Crowe, Ben Affleck, and Helen Mirren. A reporter (Crowe) in the nation's capital discovers a mess of lies when the mistress of a congressman (Affleck) is murdered. Kevin Macdonald (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) directs this thriller based on the BBC miniseries of the same name.
A tense conspiracy thriller that twists deeper and deeper into the hostile twilight world ... more
where politics meets the press.Stephen Collins is an ambitious politician hotly tipped for the Cabinet. When his assistant mysteriously falls to her death on the London Underground, it is not long before revelations of their affair hit the headlines. But one journalist - Stephen's former campaign manager, Cal McAffrey - is after the bigger story, one that will test friendships and put careers and even lives on the line...
Postage & Packaging:Free! Availability:Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your credit card will not be charged until we ship the item....
Stephen Collins is an ambitious politician. Cal McAffrey is a well-respected investigative ... more
journalist and Stephen's ex-campaign manager. En route to work one morning Stephen's research assistant mysteriously falls to her death on the London Underground. It's not long before revelations of their affair hit the headlines. Meanwhile a suspected teenage drug dealer is found shot dead. These (apparently unconnected) events expose a dangerous habit within modern government of dancing too closely with the corporate devil. Friendships are tested and lives are put on the line as an intricate web of lies unfolds...
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Oscar winner Russell Crowe stars in this nail-biting thriller from acclaimed director ... more
Kevin Macdonald ("The Last King of Scotland"). When reporter Cal McCaffrey finds himself embroiled in a series of murders his skills of deduction lead him to sources at the top of the U.S political system. Handsome unflappable U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is the future of his political party: an honorable appointee who serves as the chairman of a committee overseeing defense spending. All eyes are upon the rising star to be his party's contender for the upcoming presidential race. Until his research assistant/mistress is brutally murdered and buried secrets come tumbling out. McCaffrey has the dubious fortune of both an old friendship with Collins and a ruthless editor Cameron (Oscar winner Helen Mirren) who has assigned him to investigate. As he and partner Della (Rachel McAdams) try to uncover the killer's identity McCaffrey steps into a cover-up that threatens to shake the nation's power structures. And in a town of spin-doctors and wealthy politicos he will discover one truth: when billions are at stake no one's integrity love or life is ever safe.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: K.C. Bascombe - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jesse James, Rachel Skarsten, Charles Powell, Linda Purl, Kevin Zegars
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Advantages: 5 for £10.00 deal for 4 nights at blockbusters... so i didn't feel too ripped off Disadvantages: dull, boring, tedious, un-thrilling (if that's a word), and drawn out.
I have been watching a few DVDs recently, mainly because blockbusters are having a bit of a good deal on at the moment, although not as good as the deal they had on over the school summer holidays.
Anyway, one of the ones I rented was called ’State of Play’ starring a few well known faces, and coming highly recommended by the short bald guy behind the counter, plus the outstanding claims on the DVD box itself…
_‘Unmissable’_ stated ... .../>
_‘An outstanding thriller’_ shouted the Telegraph…
_‘Electrifying’_ gasped James King of Radio 1 '''(who?)'''
So, with all this good press, and the recommendation from the guy behind the counter at blockbusters, I thought that this political thriller of a movie should enter my choice of 5 for a tenner for four night offer.
So the other night I slotted this into the DVD player and sat back for what I was expecting ... more
I have been watching a few DVDs recently, mainly because blockbusters are having a bit of a good deal on at the moment, although not as good as the deal they had on over the school summer holidays. Anyway, one of the ones I rented was called ’State of Play’ starring a few well known faces, and coming highly recommended by the short bald guy behind the counter, plus the outstanding claims on the DVD box itself… ‘Unmissable’ stated the Daily Mirror… ‘Scorching’ claim the Daily Mail… ‘An outstanding thriller’ shouted the Telegraph… ‘Electrifying’ gasped James King of Radio 1 (who?)
So, with all this good press, and the recommendation from the guy behind the counter at blockbusters, I thought that this political thriller of a movie should enter my choice of 5 for a tenner for four night offer. So the other night I slotted this into the DVD player and sat back for what I was expecting to be over two hours of thrills and a great story to boot…
Director: Kevin MacDonald Producers: Andrew Hauptman, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner Writers: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, Peter Morgan, Billy Ray and Paul Abbott Stars: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirran, Jeff Daniels, Jason Bateman and Robin Wright Penn
Released in 2009 and a running time of 127 minutes
** BRIEF PLOT…
When a bag snatcher and a pizza delivery man are shot dead in a dark alley it is not long before reporter Cal McAffrey, (Russell Crowe) makes a connection between them and the death of a woman in an apparent subway accident. But when Cal realises that the deaths are linked to his old friend and congressman Stephen Collins, (Ben Afflick), together with a private security company named PointCorp, he soon realises that he is in way above his head. So, with Cal’s life being at risk, and his newspaper deadline fast approaching, he has to uncover the truth about the deaths and the supposed government corruption surrounding Collins and PointCorp. But when he uncovers the truth it is not quite what he expected.
** IN CONCLUSION…
As I said earlier I was expecting this one to be a rather fine movie indeed with some gripping action and maybe a few twists and turns, Sadly I was disappointed with the entire movie, I tell a lie there, the first few minutes were quite gripping, but that was it for me. When the movie did begin I felt that it may be a good one with some cracking action, but after the initial gripping encounter, including a chase, some gun shots and a strange looking man with a silver briefcase, the movie just went down hill from then on. The entire plot seemed to be so drawn out and as fast paced as a letter sent via Royal Mail with a first class stamp on it.
The experts and critics, (and I’m not including the man at blockbusters), claimed many positive things… ‘Unmissable‘, ‘Scorching‘, ‘an outstanding thriller’ and ‘electrifying‘…Well, I don’t know what movie they were watching but it certainly wasn’t this one, (James King, did you fall asleep during this one or what?)
For me I found this to be a very dull 2 hours of utter drivel, leaving me so bored that I began to nod off a few times, in fact the wife actually did fall asleep half hour into the show.
But what really gets me is how these so called movie buffs, or experts, actually thought this one was ’Unmissable’? do these people actually get paid for there opinions? It was about as ‘Scorching’ as a wet flannel found in the canal and about as electrifying as a dead car battery in a 1990’s Skoda. The only thrilling thing I felt about this movie was when I tried to get my money back from Blockbusters, which they weren’t having at all, but it was a thrill trying. For me this was two hours which could have been squashed into an hour and a bit of half decent action, and I’m being generous with the word ‘action’
The idea is a good one, Political corruption, murders, journalism and more murders, but for some reason this movie just didn’t do it for me one bit, leaving me unfulfilled, movie wise that is, and a little let down by all the build up, (I won’t be listening to the guy from Blockbusters again that’s for sure).
The acting was not so bad, (it’s a shame they weren’t in a different movie), with each character playing their part well, Crowe taking his role as the serious reporter with the usual dodgy past well, Affleck doing a fine job as the slightly dubious congressman involved in the usual love triangle and political storm. Then there’s Mirran, as the newspaper editor, with her bossy attitude and rather strange accent. Even the little twist in the movie didn’t really make this one any more exciting to watch, in fact for me it felt as though the writers had run out of ideas and just decided to blame anyone in the movie, rushing the ending a little, (if rushing is the correct word after two hours of a slow lingering death by boredom)
In all, one of the worst movies I have watched in a long time, it is about as thrilling as decorating the bathroom and about as interesting as watching the paint dry, and how James King thought this was ‘electrifying’ I’ll never know…
But, if you are interested in watching this slow drawn out wanna-be thriller then you can get a copy from blockbusters for around £13.00. Although I could think of better things to spend my money on, like a good bottle of wine or even a donation to your local charity, believe me you’ll feel a lot more fulfilled than wasting two hours watching this garbage.
Advantages: Decent storyline Disadvantages: Very dull, drags on alot, too long
...really looking forward to watching State Of Play and after it finally began showing on Sky Box Office on Monday I jumped at the chance to view what everybody else had been writing rave reviews about. State Of Play starts off at a quick pace with a double murder happening in the first five minutes however from there on things start to go downhill. The film becomes very slow and bogged down, it seems that the director has chosen an overcomplicated ... ...thriller which this film most certainly is not. Having said that, this film isn’t too difficult to follow it was simply the fact that I found it so dull I quickly lost interest and therefore the plotline became slightly lost on me. I had such high hopes for this film and they were dashed within the first half an hour. I’m not a huge fan of political thrillers, the whole politics issue is completely lost on me but I am a big fan of thrillers and thought ...
Great_reviewer07 19.10.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of State Of Play (DVD)
Advantages: Russell Crowe and Helen Mirren Disadvantages: Ben Affleck
==What’s It About?== The film opens with a thief running scared through the streets of Washington, as he hides behind the carbage bins he thinks he has finally shaken off the man who is hunting him. The next we see he is gunned down in the alley (a poor unsuspecting pizza delivery man also cops for it – wrong place wrong time). On another side of town a Congressman's assistant falls in front of a subway (or was she pushed?). The deaths appear to ... ...that all is not as is appears and there may be a very sinister connection. Newspaper reporter, Cal McAffrey (Played by Russell Crowe), starts to write a piece on the two events, with the help of rookie reporter, Della Frye. Its not long before we learn that Cal is connected to the Congressman (played by Ben Affleck), they used to be housemates at university. Cal (like a dog with a bone) starts to uproot clues that lead him to a corporate cover-up. ...
jinxyjo 28.09.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of State Of Play (DVD)
Advantages: acting Disadvantages: can't figure it out
...what links the two? In State of Play, Russell Crowe stars as eccentric journalist Cal McAffrey. Cal is investigating the bag thief murder when his old friend, Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) comes into his life again, linked to the death of the female aide. The movie follows Cal playing more detective than journalist, as he seeks out the truth in a twisted world of corrupt politics and industry.
Plot-wise, this is a well though out film ... ...corrupt world of American politics and business. Whilst it never gets dull, the one thing I didn't like about it is that there's no real way of working out what's happening (the twists and turns are just thrown on you, with no subtlety which would allow you to join in as detective).
The world of American politics is occasionally confusing, and if you don't know what Congress is or what bills are, some of it will probably go over your head.
I can't ...
bruffyboy 03.05.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of State Of Play (DVD)
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to ...
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "State Of Play (DVD)"
Advantages: Great acting, Helen Mirren, fabulous sript Disadvantages: A numb bum from sitting on the edge of your seat
State of Play (12A) Russell Crowe, Ben Afleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren.
Think Conspiracy Theory meets The Firm and is then introduced to an extended version of CSI, but with much better acting. And instead of police following the trail of crime crums, reporters played by Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams, try to discover the truth behind two murders.
Crowe is as usual, fantastic at playing Joe Bloggs and thoroughly likeable (even though we all know he's a total tool in real life). Ben Afleck does well as the slightly haggered and moraled politician with no morals (either they had great makeup and colourists or marriage and children have not sat well), and McAdams as the tenacious, gossip blogger is spot on. It?s completely gripping, well shot with jolty camera movements that reflect the tension and the script is excellent ...
Advantages: Superb acting and clever story Disadvantages: None!
HAT IS IT: State of Play is a six part BBC drama first shown in 2003. It has recently been adapted into a Hollywood film starring Russell Crowe and Helen Mirren. The original series began with two seemingly unrelated deaths: the shooting of a young man thought to be drugs related and the death of a young female political researcher. As the series develops, a complex network is established which draws in the drugs underworld, the press and important political figures. I don't want to say too much as I don't want to spoil this fantastic series for anyone; sufficed to say themes of corruption and betrayal abound across the press, government and police force.
CAST: State of Play has one of the best casts I think I have ever seen in one drama. David Morrissey, John Simm, Bill Nighy, Marc Warren, Kelly MacDonald and James McAvoy all feature ...
Advantages: Top quality scripting and brilliant acting Disadvantages: Screen and scene selection could have been easier
I first became a big fan of John Simm whilst watching the brilliant sci-fi cop drama 'Life On Mars'. My Mother - although some would claim slightly bias for various reasons - assured me that the man himself was fabulous in everything that he did, only taking the best scripts available to him.
So, I went off to my local HMV and picked the 'Political Thriller', 'State Of Play' from the shelf, which had been highly recommended to me. As someone who is interested in journalism - possibly something I want to pursue as a career - this DVD ticked many boxes for me; a great cast, a writer who I was familiar with from watching the highly entertaining 'Shameless' (Paul Abbott) and an interesting, original plot.
The show focuses on the clash between politics and the media's portrayal of events. Perhaps seen as a thin line between the two ...
Contains moderate violence and one use of strong language
Video Category
Feature Film
Country Of Origin
United States of America
Plot
A political conspiracy lies at the heart of this film starring Oscar winners Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, and Helen Mirren. A reporter (Crowe) in the nation's capital discovers a mess of lies when the mistress of a congressman (Affleck) is murdered. Kevin Macdonald (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) directs this thriller based on the BBC miniseries of the same name.
An outstanding thriller (Daily Telegraph, 25/03/2009)
...STATE OF PLAY stands as a sterling thriller, benefitting from admirable convictions and an arguable return to form by Russell Crowe (Empire, 25/03/2009)
Gripping from start to finish (Uncut, 25/03/2009)
DVD Description
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND director Kevin McDonald teams with screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan for this American adaptation of the hit BBC miniseries concerning the suspicious circumstances that set a rising congressman and a dogged reporter on a dangerous collision course. U.S. congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is handsome, unflappable, and ascending the ladder of power with unprecedented speed. He's the future of his political party, and as the chairman of a committee assigned to oversee defence spending, he's got all the right connections. As the presidential race draws near, Washington insiders begin to speculate that Collins will earn his party's nomination for the country's top job. The prospect of Collins becoming president seems less and less likely, however, when his research assistant/mistress is viciously murdered, and some unsavoury truths begin to surface. Collins was once a close friend to Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), now a top reporter in the nation's capitol. Assigned the task of investigating Collins by his ruthless editor, Cameron (Oscar-winner Helen Mirren), McAffrey recruits fellow reporter Della (Rachel McAdams) in order to track down the truth and identify the killer. But McAffrey has just walked into a cover-up of unprecedented proportions, and in a game where billions of dollars are at stake, life, love, and integrity are luxuries that simply cannot be afforded.
Compare State Of Play (DVD) to other similar Thriller & Mystery »
