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Movies & TV Movies & TV Reviews

State Of Play

STATE OF PLAY (Kevin Macdonald). 127 minutes. Opens Friday (April 17). Rating: NNNN


State Of Play borrows from several sources besides the 2003 British miniseries it’s based on, including All The President’s Men and season five of The Wire. It stars Russell Crowe as an old-school reporter who teams up with newbie blogger Rachel McAdams to find out who’d want to kill the mistress of his college roommate (played by Ben Affleck).

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Director Kevin Macdonald breaks no new suspense-flick ground: dark shadows, dangerous parking lot, omi nous music, check. But the writers – including current master of malfeasance, Tony Gilroy – and the set designer clearly know newspapers, down to the squalid workstations and ancient computers.

Details like these, along with the editing, which is quick-paced without being frenetic, and the strong cast raise the game of an otherwise straight forward thriller.

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