STATE OF PLAY 3.5*** Congressional sex scandals, greedy, ominous military contractors, political corruption, a financially failing newspaper and a serial killer are all entangled in “State of Play”. Such political thrillers come and go, but most just fade away except for the great ones like “All the President's Men”, the “Manchurian Candidate” (the 1962 version) and “Three Days of the Condor”. “State of Play” measures up well as an interesting and suspenseful stew of political intrigue all astir in the nation’s capitol..

The story begins with a double homicide of two unrelated young men in a back alley in fashionable Georgetown and continues the next day when a young, attractive congressional aide mysteriously falls in front of a Metro subway - two seemingly unrelated deaths. But not to the veteran newspaper reporter, Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) who senses a conspiracy waiting to be uncovered. With the aid of rookie blog writer Della Frye (Rachel McAdams), Cal begins uncovering clues that point toward a cover-up full of insiders, informants, and assassins.

"Play" has a diverse but killer cast. We have a very classy Helen Mirren who plays a "Devil Wears Prada"-ish editor who runs The Washington Globe. Russell Crowe is the type of gutsy newspaper reporter everyone can admire. He’s teamed up with the Globe’s young and hard-charging blogger (Rachel McAdams) who dares to see herself as his equal. Together they doggedly investigate what turns into a dangerous situation that involves the young and powerful Congressman Stephen Collins ( Ben Affleck.) who is married but was having an affair with the dead aide. Russell Crowe delivers yet another powerhouse performance that makes investigative journalism feel exciting, dangerous and, at times, immoral.

“Play" hooks you quickly and keeps you guessing. And it manages to keep the characters intimate and worth caring about while also making sure the story steadily winds tighter and gains velocity. This is a thriller that is smart and never blows itself out of proportion or reality. Also, most investigative thrillers focus on detectives digging around for the answers, but “Play" opts to focus on the hard working reporter. There’s a difference…a detective who solves the case is just doing his/her job -- a journalist who does the same is helping sell newspapers and can end up being something of a hero and potential candidate for a Pulitzer Prize.

NOTE: You may wonder where they came up with such a bland and ambiguous title. Well I sure did until I found out the movie is based upon a popular and successful BBC mini-series of the same name….so they decided to leave well-enough alone.