State of Play is directed by Kevin MacDonald and is written by Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Series, Michael Clayton) and Matthew Carnahan (Lions for Lambs, The Kingdom). State of Play is adapted from the BBC 6 part miniseries title of the same name. 

State of Play starts off with a young man and a pizza delivery boy being gunned down in the streets of Washingotn D.C. after the young boy had been fleeing from the assassin. The next day Congressman Steve Collin's (Ben Affleck) young and attractive research assistant falls in front of a train, prompting media frenzy about his involvement with her. A reporter from The Globe Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) begins investigating the story with online/blog reporter Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) as they begin to discover there is much more to the story than once originally thought. Throughout the ordeal they also have to deal with their boss Cameron Lynne (Helen Mirren) about finishing the story and being done with it by press time.

State of Play is very impressive. The film brings along an all-star cast of characters as well as some veteran actors like Jeff Daniels as Senator George Fergus, a very stern politician attempting to help Collins, Michael Weston as one of Crowe's investigative reporters, and Jason Bateman, an eccentric personality who reveals much about what is happening. The entire cast did a fantastic job, which is especially great for a political thriller. It also shows how great Russell Crowe's character is, that even though he is old school, use's an old computer, he gets the job done well, and right.

The score for State of Play is also very impressive. Not all too often is an electric guitar heard as background music, which provided for great transitions between scene changes and made for fantastic suspense. 

State of Play has several different aspects to it, although it is a story about a politicians aide being killed, it also involves the aspects of print journalism versus the bloggers, and how the media controls sistuations, something that Lions for Lambs tried to do, but failed to capitalize on that like State of Play does. It also tackles the current topic of the privatization of Homeland Security, tossing in corporate conspiracies at the same time without being hokey an dover the top, which made for a great concept in this movie.

That said, State of Play is a fantastic political thriller, people should seek it out while they can, or catch it immediately upon DVD release, it is a solid movie, with solid performances across the board. Don't let it look like a generic political thriller to you, even though thte title may make it seem like it. State of Play really is a great film.

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