State of Play

Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren make the incredibly intriguing movie 2009 State of Play a hit for characterization. The plot, a congressman investigating the privatization of American Foreign and Homeland security for profit and the death of his female aid as they play together in a story investigated by his journalist friend, is a superb film adaptation of the 6 part BBC series 'State of Play'. Directed by Kevin Macdonald, the screenplay was written by Mathew Carnahan, Tony Gilroy and Billy Ray. Paul Abbott wrote the television series. Given that the most believable reporting on 7-11 and the War of Iraq with it's Weapons of Mass Destruction was not the propagandistic CNN but BBC, it isn't surprising that State of Play's complex and personal story is wholly believable when it comes to talking about people and politics. Perhaps that's because the British had their empire a bit longer than the Americans have had theirs. A must see movie for anyone who loves investigative journalism and still believes that the news isn't wholly controlled by the american militaryindustrialcorporate complex sometimes known as the american mediamilitaryindustrialcorporate complex.(AMMICC for short).