Ben Affleck Movie:

		List Price: $26.98		Label: Universal Studios Salesrank: 3352 Released: September 1, 2009
		Our Price: $18.99
		Used Price: $8.99
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
Academy Award®-winner Russell Crowe leads an all-star cast, including Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams & Helen Mirren in the blistering thriller about deception, manipulation & corruption. When D.C. Reporter Cal McCaffrey (Crowe) is assigned to investigate the murder of an assistant to an up-and-coming politician (Affleck), he uncovers a conspiracy that threatens to bring down the nation’s power structures. In a town of spin-doctors and wealthy power brokers, he will discover one truth: when fortunes are at stake, no one’s integrity, love or life is safe. From director Kevin Macdonald of The Last King of Scotland, State of Play brings together gripping performances, riveting suspense and is “sophisticated, intelligent and powerful” (Shawn Edwards, Fox-TV).

Description of State of Play [Blu-ray]:
The superlative British miniseries becomes a smart, soap opera-free film courtesy The Last King of Scotland's Kevin Macdonald. His writers, including Tony Gilroy (the Bourne series) and Billy Ray (Breach), haven't simply condensed and Americanized the six-hour series--they've reinvented it. Now set in Washington D.C., veteran journalist Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe, replacing Brad Pitt, who dropped out over script changes) still collaborates with editor Cameron Lynne (a delectably imperious Helen Mirren) and junior reporter Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) on a story involving Cal's politico pal, Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck), but there's a new subtext behind their plunge into sex scandals and corporate malfeasance, since this State of Play also eulogizes old-school beat reporting, and in interviews, Macdonald has acknowledged the influence of newsprint classics like All the President's Men (the Watergate Hotel even shows up as a location). So, while Cal and Della, the Globe’s blogger, try to determine whether the congressman’s aide Sonia (with whom he was having an affair) died at her own hands or the hands of another, they're also fighting for their careers and the survival of their ailing paper. Stephen's political rival Senator Fergus (Jeff Daniels), does his best to stymie their efforts, but PR flack Dominic Foy (Jason Bateman) becomes a reluctant ally. Though fans of the series may miss a few characters, like Cameron's son (played by James McAvoy in the BBC version), Oscar-winning documentarian-turned-filmmaker Macdonald remains true to its spirit. Be sure to stay through the poignant end credits, during which he returns to his doc roots. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stills from State of Play (Click for larger image)

State of Play [Blu-ray] Reviews:
State of Play
2009-12-16 - Good movie, a litle slow at times. Russell Crowe seems typecast, and Helen Mirren's great talent is wasted. Overall worth a view.

Good Acting - Interesting Plot
2009-12-16 - Russell Crowe gives a great performance in this drama set in Washington, DC. Helen Mirren also did a good job as the Editor of a major DC newspaper. The plot is a little hard to follow and the actors voices were quite low at times making it hard to understand their words. The movie gives a good look into the newspaper publishing business, and Russell Crowe spent a lot of time before making the movie visiting the Post and learning everything he could about the industry. Really good acting, but you must pay close attention - has some good twists.

took a while, but it's good
2009-12-12 - The first shipment never arrived. When I contacted Amazon, they said to give it a few more days, considering the holiday factor, so I did, but it did not arrive still. So they sent another, which arrived on time, and I love it. THanks, Amazon!

Decent Movie, Above average disc
2009-12-10 - State of Play is a political thriller that many will enjoy while many will see and forget. The assembled cast of Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, and Helen Mirren put in strong performances that will satisfy many critics. I am one of the many who enjoyed the film even though the ending is somewhat predictable; but then again very few movies provide shocker endings these days.

As for the disc itself, although I would not put it up there with the top-tier reference quality discs like Up and No Country for Old Men (to name a few), it doesn't miss by much. Grain is kept to a minimum, colors are somewhat subdued but accurate due to the Director's vision of the movie. Overall, a fine transfer delivered on this disc by Universal. The sound quality is also very good considering the type of movie it is. With State of Play being a dialog driven movie rather than action packed, the DTS-HD MA transfer does not give your surround setup a major work out but does provide very crisp and easy to hear dialog. Ambient sounds such as the newspaper room and chatting office workers are audible yet do not overshadow the main dialog coming thru the center channel. LFE inputs show up a few times throughout the movie to provide some low end. Overall, a respectable audio presentation that would blow you away but does exactly what you hope it will.

British version was better made.
2009-12-05 - Kevin MacDonald¿s State of Play, from Tony Gilroy and Billy Ray, is based on the six-hour BBC miniseries created by Paul Abbott. This time the series is based in Washington D.C. Russell Crowe plays a journalist, a kind of a dinosaur in this age of blogging, who is devoted to his job. His latest story involves the connection between the shooting of a pizza delivery guy and the suicide of a rising politician¿s aide who has thrown herself to death under a subway train. The dead woman it is learned has been having an affair with her married boss the senator, played by Ben Affleck who is friends with Russell Crowe. Affleck is heading a committee looking in to a corporation that had made billions from private army contracting. All these things are linked together, which made for good viewing in the original series. M recommendation is watch the original and then watch the abridged American version, if only for Russell Crowe.