state of play

film night tonight - down to a choice of 2
another bleak, sad, true, long, rated world war 2 flick
and a colourful, happy, fictional, brief, rated local rom com flick
having trouble deciding which way to go and then problem solved
at a nearby theatre is this latest russell crowe flick - state of play
as fate would have it i saw the man interviewed on tv last night
clean-shaven, hair-cut, suit-dressed on david letterman's show
doing the promo thing for this film and doing it very well
so i decide to go for the middle ground and see russell
the film is set in politics-infested washington d c
an opening sequence reminding me i'm in hollywood
there's car crashes, a chase, and a couple of shootings
cut to cal mcaffrey (crowe) the slob on the way to work
no effort spared telling us he's untidy, slovenly and uh-oh
country music blasting in his beat-up 1990 saab - so un-cool
but he's a reporter of the old vintage at the washington globe
well connected - mates with everyone - can pull favours
his college room-mate (of course) is now a congressman
taking on the evil empire of pointcorp (read blackwater)
the congressman's research assistant and lover has been killed
and so erstwhile reporter come detective mcaffrey is on the case
way too many plots and sub-plots to describe in this rave
but - surprisingly - it's all quite easy to keep up with it
which probably sees something for the director
or more so i think for how contemporary it all is
all manner of things going on that are close to reality
for one the replacement of journalism with e.g. blogging
the rise of the mercenary army another - i.e. blackwater
doing big things in iraq and afghanistan but warning bells
the real intention is to privatise homeland security - huge $
so i sat there thinking hooray for crowe, affleck and producers, etc
it's only a flick but good on america for letting this reality jolt out
bringing to mind a few interviews done with ben affleck
he previously an outspoken critic of george w bush
lately an outspoken supporter of barack obama
but also stating that the best he can do is act
use his skills, profile and beliefs to tell the story
but then hey it's just a story - and with a real motive
bums on seats for one and recoup the costs of production
russell crowe, ben affleck and helen mirren do not come cheap
but - value for money - they have all provided it here
it's a great contemporary yarn told convincingly
stand by and watch as the newspapers roll over
the closing scenes in the film reminding us of that era
the manufacturing process of broadsheets shown in detail
a sort of ode to days gone by with the new order now in
here's hoping their other warning does not come to pass
pointcorp - blackwater - a privatised army
gulp - this film sounds the bells
hope someone is listening....