State of Play-Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck



SEE.



I'm one of five people in the U.S. who knows this was a British miniseries first. I didn't get through that whole miniseries (sorry, BBC) so I can't make comparisons. What I know is this-the age of the shocking conspiracy theory movie which leads us to find corruption in the hallowed halls of power, well, that age is over. Americans are no longer surprised by what people are capable of whether they are ordinary people, businessmen, public officials or serial killers. The lengths people will go to to cover their asses are, well, boundless. Sadly, this fact means that when the audience arrives at the end of a film we are generally beset with disappointment about the big reveal of the motivation behind all the deaths/car chases/overacted scenes that have been occurring throughout the movie. I know I was.



That is not to say, that the road to the big reveal was not fraught and interesting and even clever. Ben Affleck does his best to carry the weight of an up-and-coming congressman who has an affair with an intern who inconveniently turns up dead. Russell Crowe is Russell Crowe. Always good if not terribly endearing. How I long for the Russell Crowe of Gladiator. It's okay to be pretty, Russell! C'mon. Rachel McAdams does it. Not every reporter in America is aoverweight, long-haired, Celtic music loving cynic. (As far as I know.) I'm just saying I like a little eye candy with my brain candy. I mean really, what do I get? And don't say Ben Affleck. The superhero chin does nothing for me.





EAT.





Um. Please don't.





SHOP.





So, apparently reporters still use the trusty pen and pad. . How passe. Why not use a pen that records? (It's a rhetorical question.) Use a pen that records, silly. It's 2009 for cryin' out loud. Who still uses a pen and pad? Type this address, would ya? http://www.livescribe.com/smartpen/index.html.