The Deception of the Desperate in the Halls of Congress Fall to the Whims of Intrigue

    "State of Play," possibly, should have been titled State of Prey, considering the maneuvers of the players, who run our congress and deceive the public nearly as much as they deceive each other. Watching Congressman Rep. Stephen Collins, played by Ben Affleck, being put through the paces of the relative intrigue associated with a representative in the U.S. House, who happened to chair the Committee on Defense Appropriations was a gut wrenching observation of the necessity of legislative appropriations and the obvious flaws of the players within the congress.

    The terribly flawed congressional members that were used as foils - a backdrop or canvas to paint this morality play - were just one of the many parallels to today's society that gave this film the edginess of real life. Another similarity to the profound reality of this real world is the portrayal of journalism: its gritty machinations that produce the finished product, which generates its profound effect on governing, and, ultimately, how each party plays the other accordingly to elicit a more desirable outcome. The third resemblance to present day situations is the reality of the Department of Defense's escalating practice of contracting with mercenaries (defense contractors) to relieve the pressure on an inordinately extended military.

    First correlation: the proud and the profane in congress - specifically the U.S. House of Representatives. Congress has the lowest approval ratings of my lifetime - somewhere in the very low teens - and is it any wonder? If you want a major buzz kill - watch them in committee meetings. Some of their members' questions are so inane. Is it any wonder that they can be played so easily by the smarter members? Congressman Rep. Stephen Collins is not stupid, but he is being played by Rep. George Fergus, portrayed to perfection by Jeff Daniels, who is becoming one of the best character actors in cinema. No, Representative Stephen Collins is not stupid, but he makes bad decision, not least of which is having an affair with staff member Sonia Baker, played by Maria Thayer, whom we never get to meet except in pictures or impersonal moving images. When she dies in a suspicious suicide, the game is afoot, and fodder for Washington Globe Journalist Cal McAffrey.

    Cal McAffrey, portrayed by the very capable Russell Crowe, smells a story here when he connects the dots between his former college roommate, Stephen Collins, and the dead congressional staffer, who was researching the provincial players seeking funding for defense appropriations. Reporter Cal: has access to his former roommate, he has knowledge of ancillary commandos - that he supposes to be connected to mega defense contractor Point Corp - running loose over the Washington, DC landscape killing people. He also has an incomparable tenacity in probing for information, and has recruited a capable assistant, Globe Blogging Editor Della Frye, played by Rachel McAdams, to help tie together the loose ends.

    Washington Globe Editor Cameron Lynne, played with total cynicism by veteran Helen Mirren, wants a proper story, but she wants an efficient one along with the economic necessity of selling papers. This parallels today's business society where competition from the internet for the dissemination of information is forcing newspapers to be more efficient or close their doors. What the "free press" is discovering is that the press is not so free, and we are witness to the machinations of developing a good, ethical article, while under the pressure to produce a competitive product. The free market can be a bitch, and this representation of the new age of the "free press" shows that she ain't no lady. She is the brassy Madam Lynne being forced, by "mean spirited" capitalists, to sweat the fat lady down to a manageable institution, which will continue to exist if it can stay real.

    The third parallel, as symbolized by Point Corp., is the defense of the U.S.A. is requiring an increased number of mercenaries (independent contractors) to enforce the security and defense of this nation. Mercenaries have been a staple in the United States military since the inception of the Revolutionary War in the winter of 1776, but today it is more open and apparent that the trend is escalating. I'm not saying that it is good or bad, but with the good government management of this issue is still in question, and it will be interesting to watch this governing model evolve.

    Another symbolic gesture employed by Director Kevin MacDonald is the cinematographic shots of Washington, D.C., a truly magnificent city in design and architecture, through the visage of partly dilapidated structures from the north and east to symbolize the gritty governing that prevails in the U. S. Capital. Screenwriters Mathew Carnahan, Tony Gilroy and Billy Ray in their adaptation of the 2003 British television miniseries, of the same title, by Paul Abbott, who acted as a producer on this film, keep the story of this thriller fast paced, intelligent and a perfect "who done it" to the thrilling end. "State of Play" is fine film and definitely worth your time at a thrill packed 127 minutes of runtime.

    Rated PG13. Released in theaters April 17, 2009.