STATE OF PLAY (Blu-ray; Universal)

Mike LoManaco

Studio Name: Universal (Working Title)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Disc/Transfer Information: 1080p High Definition; Widescreen 2.35:1; BD-50 Disc; Region 1 (U.S.) Release
Tested Audio Track: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (tested at core DTS)
Director: Kevin MacDonald
Starring Cast: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams

SYNOPSIS:

Yet another utterly confusing hybrid of The International, Absolute Power, Murder at 1600 and, more specifically, Body of Lies, this Kevin MacDonald (The Last King of Scotland) bordering-on-political-thriller was actually based on a UK-sourced BBC television drama by Paul Abbott -- which explains much of Helen Mirren's British references in this to "knickers" and such. Aside from overlapping plot twists and the stereotypical paranoid elements following the main characters inherent of this genre of cinema, State of Play's premium downfall is the performance by generally seasoned actors like Crowe and Affleck. Crowe has packed on a ton of weight since the last time we saw him -- although this may have been a demand of the role -- and his dialogue delivery comes off as just plain awkward, while Affleck looks like he's ready to collect social security and stare at his laminated AARP card in a retirement home what with his salt and pepper hair and general appearance of aging. Affleck's wooden delivery of lines and moments of choking back tears during some sequences of the film were embarrassing; to be honest, I thoroughly "enjoyed" "Affliction" (a pet name I have given him) in Daredevil and Changing Lanes better.

Those of you smitten with pseudo-politics yarns that have you guessing every moment about who's behind what, and which government agents are betraying who, will love this material -- this is, to me, headache-inducing cinema, but I'll try and lay it all out as best as possible. Crowe, who mopes around in this sporting a beer belly that looks as if he's had one too many Yodels and long hair that he annoyingly keeps pushing aside his face, plays Washington Globe newspaper reporter Cal McCaffrey. He's a sarcastic, rough-edged veteran reporter and writer who blows off professional advances by staff blogger Rachel McAdams (Red Eye) when she begins looking into an apparent scandal in Washington involving an up-and-coming senator (Affleck) and a woman he may have had an affair with. Many films have dealt with this topic over the years, and aside from the Kennedys doing it so well naturally, I never understood the public's appeal of such circles -- Absolute Power, Murder at 1600, The Sentinel...they all have dealt, one way or another, with sexual scandals involving high levels of government, sometimes all the way up to the President. Crowe and Affleck's characters were friends, which leads Crowe to take an interest in the growing story in D.C.

When a young blonde is killed near a train in Washington, the story leads to Affleck supposedly having an affair with this woman even though the initial media spins it as a suicide. McAdams, not looking as sexy here as she did in Red Eye what with her shortened hair, kind of "shares" the story with Crowe, with each of them investigating certain aspects of the case. Eventually, one of those government/industrial conspiracy plots are unveiled, a la The International, in which a giant corporation Affleck was "investigating" in the senate may have been behind his lover's murder. Crowe eventually learns of this corporation's intentions of taking over the U.S.' internal homeland intelligence operations which would somehow yield billions of dollars (if I remember the reference correctly). Crowe and Adams hunt down characters high and low to uncover the mystery behind this operation in order to find out who was behind the murder and if Affleck himself is really so innocent in it all. Helen Mirren (National Treasure 2, The Queen) turns in a lively performance as Adams' and Crowe's boss at the newspaper; she plays the cold, steely British-tongued editor as snappy as Meryl Streep did as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada.

There's also a sub-plot involving Crowe being romantically involved with Affleck's wife, which made the whole thing even more confusing because you're constantly guessing who is on who's side, and where the whole thing is going. While Roger Ebert called State of Play a "smart, ingenious thriller," I didn't see it that way. The off-kilt acting performances by both Crowe and Affleck couple with a rather disappointing ending that focuses on Affleck suddenly becoming the "bad one" in all this in Crowe's eyes; it left me confused and feeling indifferent to be honest.

VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS:

Another terrific release by Universal. Razor-sharp images combine with a plethora of enhanced detail on this 2.35:1 widescreen transfer in 1080p to make this a real standout disc; there was absolutely no grain to complain of, and shadow detail was impressive. There were moments when the transfer slipped into some minor DVD-like softness, but this was rare and the images quickly snapped back into high definition range.

What struck me most about State of Play's 1080p encode were the sequences that almost had that sought-after, sultry "floating surrealism" some high definition material exhibits and what 120Hz LCD displays can achieve -- my source display is a 1080p rear projection set, so it doesn't offer Sony's "MotionFlow" technology or anything that will create that frame manipulation effect which I personally absolutely love. Call this what you will -- the "Soap Opera Effect" or "film now looks like video" -- but even though this choice is highly discarded by professionals and videophiles for manipulating film too much to look like video, I am always stunned by that surreal "floating off the screen" result on displays that can support such effects. However, that said, my rear projection HDTV exhibited certain sequences in State of Play that bordered on achieving this "floating almost-video look" and this was most pleasing to my eye because most Blu-ray transfers come off looking way too "flat" and "DVD-like" on my screen. There's a moment when Affleck is in front of his other senators in a private room, being told by one of his cohorts (played by Jeff Daniels) to keep a low profile while this scandal involving him and the dead girl is being flaunted on the news -- this sequence looked absolutely stunning on my set, with Daniels and Affleck appearing as though they were in that "surreal video-like" effect as the camera panned around them and in front of them during the scene. There were a few other standout moments like this in the transfer as well, which included drop-dead-gorgeous (in terms of detail) closeups of Crowe's face and a sense of dimension around him; much of it is difficult to put into words, but this was a pretty top-notch release from Universal, who has been steadily cranking out beautiful transfer after beautiful transfer in the Blu-ray format.

AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS:

Running State of Play's core DTS stream from its English DTS-HD Master Audio track in 5.1, the dynamics here were startling -- dialogue was a bit low in volume as buried within the mix, but LFE and directionality were wildly abundant and aggressive. The soundtrack goes from whisper quiet to split-the-air-with-sonics pressure in a jarring way that will please home theater enthusiasts who enjoy constant soundfield activity; gunshots pierce the channels with ominous presence and even helicopter flyovers are accompanied by waves of deep rumble.

This track doesn't have the unbelievably aggressive, crushing dynamics of other Universal Blu-ray releases in Master Audio such as The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor or The Incredible Hulk, but for the program material, it was forceful enough -- and that was running the core DTS stream. Those of you with true Master Audio capabilities and support won't be disappointed.

danz1906

I thought that the Movie was pretty good!_Thanks Mike

wutadumsn23

Cool, thanks Mike. Will add this to the will rent list, I was on the fence.

-Jeff

Mike LoManaco

danz1906 wrote: »

I thought that the Movie was pretty good!_Thanks Mike

Hey, Danz!

Thanks for reading and for your thoughts -- the wife agreed with you. She liked it too; it just wasn't my cup of Joe.

Mike LoManaco

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

Cool, thanks Mike. Will add this to the will rent list, I was on the fence.

-Jeff

Hey Jeff,

Glad I could be of assistance; the review portrays a bit of a dislike for the picture, but don't let it stop you from at least renting.

Roy Munson

This movie is based on a 6 hour BBC mini series that is VERY good..it's available on DVD.

The ending left a little to be desired but overall it's an excellent mini series that was very popular in the UK.

I haven't seen the movie yet but I'd be surprised if it's as good as the BBC production.

F1nut

It sucked, a total waste of time.

Mike LoManaco

Roy Munson wrote: »

This movie is based on a 6 hour BBC mini series that is VERY good..it's available on DVD.

The ending left a little to be desired but overall it's an excellent mini series that was very popular in the UK.

I haven't seen the movie yet but I'd be surprised if it's as good as the BBC production.

From the review:

...this Kevin MacDonald (The Last King of Scotland) bordering-on-political-thriller was actually based on a UK-sourced BBC television drama by Paul Abbott -- which explains much of Helen Mirren's British references in this to "knickers" and such.

hockeyboy

F1nut wrote: »

It sucked, a total waste of time.

LOL But tell us how you really felt about the movie without beating around the bush so much.

Rodeo0530

Ben Affleck..need I say more about the quality of this movie?

Rodeo0530

Keiko wrote: »

Ben Affleck is my hero. He boinked J Lo the lucky bastage.

That's the one good thing that he can be known for then. I simply cannot enjoy a single movie that he's in.

F1nut

xcapri79 wrote: »

Well this movie may not interest the "Fast and Furious" crowd.

xcapri79 wrote:

Try Dukes of Hazzard.

This from the guy they got the idea for "Dumb and Dumber".......:rolleyes:

F1nut

You do realize that your post makes no sense, right!?!

Look, you've done nothing but troll and attack others since you joined....it's time for you to go.

Mike LoManaco

xcapri79 wrote: »

I enjoyed reading your synopsis Mike. Personally, I found the movie entertaining and found Crowe's performance engaging. Again Crowe shows his range as an actor. He isn't going to play "gladiator" forever, that is unless his life is threatened in the movie. Think of Crowe as a cross between Connery and DeNiro. It works.

Thank you for your thoughts, 'Capri...much appreciated. I didn't expect Crowe, though, to be playing "Maximus" forever; but his acting in this, to me, was wooden and just awkward -- I thought he was much more captivating in "A Beautiful Mind."

That being said, I agree with your characterization of Affleck. He is one of the few actors that makes Shatner look like an Olivier in comparison. Well maybe not, but you get my point.

Agreed, and well-put.

Rachael McAdams played her "eye candy" role fine.

Unsure about that; to me, her character was irrelevant and merely invisible. Plus, she was a lot sexier in "Red Eye."

I enjoyed Mirren's portrayal of the mother hen of the paper. Of course, she will use her "Britishisms" - my wife still does after living here for 25 years.

Mike LoManaco

Keiko wrote: »

A lot of folks will disagree, but I liked Pearl Harbor. Just the DTS surround in that movie kicked butt! Kate Beckinsale is always nice to look at. Even though I prefer her as a blood sucking, Lycan lovin' Vampire to a US Navy nurse. She could still check me for a hernia anytime.

Absolutely agreed on Beckinsale and Pearl Harbor's DTS track, Mike!

F1nut

Keiko wrote: »

Which is why I have the 79fordpinto on ignore Jesse. Out of sight, out of mind

You're right, Mike. It's just that my BOZO list is so large that I'm not sure I can add another one to it.

Mike LoManaco

xcapri79 wrote: »

He was, but he had to be, due to the nature of the story. In a "Beautiful Mind", Crowe played the mathematical genious John Nash - almost a surreal character. The story was a partial biography of Dr. Nash and his struggle with his dillusions, so Crowe's role was not only central to the story, it was the story. He would have to be more captivating for it to work.

Yes -- of course I know what Beautiful Mind was about; was just saying I think that was a better performance from him...

In "State of Play", the plot was not about the reporter per se but about the story that the reporter was covering. The reporter Cal was not glamorous - no he was a slob, who knew how to ask questions and get to the bottom of things, many things.

Of course -- I wasn't expecting the Cal character to be "glamorous," but I just didn't care for his execution of the character...which is often the director's fault. But perhaps there is some truth to the fact that we're supposed to be focusing more on his story than on him.

Perhaps you were missing the sort of spark that Peter Falk brought to Columbo. I think that Crowe played the part as the director wanted him to and not be over the top. I thought it was just right.

Okay; that's totally your right to have your own opinion about the final product, sir.

Maybe you were also hoping a great Crowe performance would compensate for Affleck's wooden acting style. I doubt even Sir Hopkins or even Sir Olivier could perform that miracle.

Perhaps Crowe didn't play his best, but like Tiger Woods he is better than the rest.

Yes, indeed Affleck's style was "wooden" as well.

Mike LoManaco

xcapri79 wrote: »

I think that it is wonderful that we can watch movies like this on Blu-ray. The audio and video definitely draw you into the movie gving you the feeling of almost being there.
The apartment scene with the sleazy Dominic Foy (Jason Bateman) or Cal's apartment become the room I was in.
I enjoyed Bateman's performance.

I found this one worked well with the Polk Surroundbar 50. The dialog was clear for me.
I didn't feel the need to use the amps and the LSi's.

Okay...

F1nut

Keiko wrote: »

The D*(K list. :eek:

I've been so use to adding them to my BOZO list that I forgot about the D*(K list. Thanks for reminding me, Mike. 79fordpinto has been placed at the top of it.

Mike LoManaco

xcapri79 wrote: »

Look forward to your next review. Which movie will it be?

Uncertain, 'Capri...sometimes I share ones which I have been assigned anyway on a freelance basis, and other times I write them based on a rental experience. My calendar has lightened up for this fall interim at the moment.