Published as guest post on Involuntary Fury

In a growing age of overpaid and overworked cinema that seems to be angled exactly in the path of money, it is never a bad idea to walk outside and take a breath of fresh air. And essentially, with that, I have summed Kevin Macdonald’s State of Play.

If one decided to find a well paced, well worked plot illogical twists, a good dose of action and a popular but unquestionably skilled cast in the past few years, he/she would be hard pressed to find anything to their liking, and instead offer a dose of the past — something in the realm of a “All the President’s Men” or similar.

Enter State of Play. Seemly designed to disprove my above theory, it factors in thrills that kept the entire theatre hunched forward in their seats, emotion that triggered a similar reaction, a plot that grips to even the most seasoned viewers. And, of course, it did slip forward like any movie to add in the required fields for today’s movie, a dab of sex appeal, some broken windows and one chase scene.

But it also went right back to the past as well, reminiscing on the previously mentioned All the President’s men.  I noticed a similar garage scene as when Deepthroat met Woodward, and of course, the same press theme of inside the Washington Globe.

Few things could be changed about this movie, however, they are somewhat noticeable. A scene involving a subway killing could be implied more at the time, and the final plot twist, while still genius, had some minor flaws. But, I am essentially bickering as this was one of the best trillers I have seen from the 21 century in a long time.

All in all, State of Play is a must see — it provides the viewers with a plot with healthy depth, action for everyone to enjoy, and very well executed suspense — even a great score.